The Angel Within
by CarolinaBP
Summary: [After Tekken 6] Azazel is defeated. Although many thought it would lead to the defeat of all the evil in this world, it didn't. That means the search for peace continues. As many unsolved mysteries resurface and new problems come into the scene, it will all culminate in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 7. [Featuring ALL Tekken characters]
1. A Common Monday

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter One: A Common Monday**

 _Set three months after the events of Tekken 6._

 **...**

 _[Day 1]_

 _Monday, 12:45 UTC (05:45 in local time)  
North of Arizona, United States Of America_

The sun brings itself to the beautiful view of the Grand Canyon as it rises. The rosy sky matches with the orange of the land. By the Colorado River, a woman is camping, alone. The soft breeze caresses the fringe of her hazel hair and swings the feathers of her tribal earring. Her simple brown dress floates in the wind while she is knelt down watching the sunrise.

She stands up and walks barefoot through the bank of the river. The water is cold, giving her chills. Suddenly, she steps on something, and looks down to see some sort of rustic pendant.

Frowning slightly, she crouches to analyze it. When she grabs it, a rush of memories goes through her mind. But not any memories. Memories of her mother. Oh, she misses her mother so bad.

All of a sudden, she snaps out of it, falling forward. She upholds herself by putting her palms on the ground before her face hits it instead. Her breath is coming in gasps and her head aches.

" _Julia…_ " The wind blows harder, whispering her name.

" _Mother…_ "

* * *

 _[Day 1]_

 _Monday, 13:06 UTC (07:06 in local time)  
_ _Somewhere in Mississippi, United States Of America_

A young man is laid on a hospital bed, in a coma. The room is quite small, and has almost no furniture. Besides the bed and some medical equipment, the room is empty. The room has a simple ceiling lamp providing illumination, since there are no windows. Everything in that room is white.

Everything, besides a mirror. It is situated in the wall on the right side of the bed. On the other side of the mirror, there is not only reflection, but also an observation room. Inside there, a man and a woman are watching silently, sitting on two silver metal chairs across a silver metal table. They both are wearing black leather attire, sunglasses and their own earpieces.

This is not an ordinary hospital. And none of these people are ordinary.

* * *

 _[Day 1]_

 _Monday, 13:06 UTC (22:06 in local time)  
Tokyo, Japan_

A dark-blonde haired white man stands alone in an office room. He watches the night life of Tokyo from a wall of windows. The lights of the cars and the buildings contrast with the dark starless cloudy sky. The black suit he is wearing camouflages him in the darkness. The top floor of the Mishima Zaibatsu tower defenitely grants the vastest and best view of the busy city.

He closes his eyes and sighs, passing his hand through his spiky hair. Many thoughts are crossing his mind right now, and he really needs a rest. As he heads for his bedroom, which is situated on a door across the office, the telephone rings.

Raising an eyebrow, he turns back and towards his desk. Answering the telephone, he hears a sweet female voice.

"Lars."

"Alisa." He says, smiling to himself.

"Sorry for disturbing this late at night, but I'm doing as you've requested." She makes a pause. "He has been awakened."

His jaw drops slightly.

"When?" He asks.

"Just now. I have just received the message."

"Who else knows this information besides them?"

"Only us."

He keeps himself silent for a second, thinking of how to proceed.

"This call has just become _cinis_." He says. "Be prepared to take off tomorrow. I will request Rita to arrange the plane."

"Yes, sir." He held the urge to laugh at hearing 'sir'. Her job position requires that formality, but hearing that from his friend is quite funny.

"All registers regarding this call have just been deleted." She says, after a pause. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Inform them we're meeting up in two days." He answers. "That's all. Good night, Alisa. I see you in the flight tomorrow." He smiles again.

"Alright. Good night, Lars." She hangs up.

Lars presses one of the many buttons of his high-tech telephone. He is now calling his secretary. It rings twice before the woman picks up.

"Mr. Alexandersson. How may I help you?" Rita, the CEO's secretary, says in the other side of the line, on her usual monotone voice.

"I need you to arrange the plane for tomorrow morning, heading to Mississippi. The earlier, the better. Cancel all my scheduled appointments for the week." He makes a pause. "Inform Nina she is joining the flight, and that I will give her instructions only before we take off."

"Yes, sir." She answers.

"This call and this trip are under the _cinis_ protocol."

The _cinis_ protocol is a measure that consists of suppressing every information recorded about something. It may be a call, it may be an experiment, a war attack, really anything; but if it has become _cinis_ , it is like it has never existed. It is all turned to mere ashes. ' _Cinis_ ' is the latin word for 'ash'. A company as corrupt as the Zaibatsu has quite a vast purpose of the protocol.

"Yes, sir. I'm erasing all the data right now." Lars then hears light sounds of keyboard. He waits for Rita to finish the deletion.

"It is done. Everything about this call and the trip has been extinguished from the Zaibatsu database." She says after a few seconds of waiting. "I will assure there will be someone to accompany you to the flight tomorrow."

"Thank you. This is all." He hangs up and puts the telephone back on its place.

Lars catches a last glimpse of the night through the windows and heads to his bedroom.

* * *

 _[Day 1]_

 _Monday, 13:11 UTC (14:11 in local time)  
_ _Berlin, Germany_

A girl of light-blond short hair wearing a dark brown sweatshirt with the hood up enters in a café. The place is just as busy as the city outside, which makes her expression that one of a constant frown. _I hate crowded places_ , she thinks.

She discretely heads towards the computers, taking her heads out of the front pockets of her dark blue jeans as she sits on the one in the corner. She wants answers. She _needs_ answers. After some long minutes, she just can't find anything, just as yesterday. And just as all the other days. She sighs and decides to take the opportunity to check on her emails.

She raises an eyebrow seeing a new email, which arrived about forty minutes ago, from an anonymous sender. The email says:

 _Dear Mrs. Kliesen,  
I have found some information that might be of your concern. They regard the one person you wanted to avenge in the last King of Iron Fist Tournament.  
If you have any interest, head to the __Fragrant Harbour. There, I will make my own way to meet you._

 _Don't bother to answer this message. You have one week to come._

Her jaw drops. She then keeps re-reading the email in astonishment. _Who sent this? How have they found me? How did they know of my intentions? Fragrant Harbour? What is it's a trap? What if it's fake?_ These and many others questions race through her head.

She clenches her left fist and hit it in the desk out of frustration. _What should I do?_ , she wonders. _What is this?_

She reflects for some minutes.

 _I guess there's only one way to find out._

* * *

 _[Day 1]_

 _Monday, 15:23 UTC (10:23 in local time)  
Miami, Florida, United States Of America_

Four men are training in a small private dojo of their own. Training hard, very hard. Two of them are blonde and the other two are black-haired. Two of them are from the west of the world, and the two others are from the east of it.

"Chipping in to buy this dojo was definitely the best thing we could've done." Says Forest, while hitting on a punch bag.

"Hell yeah!" says Paul, half-answering Forest and half-screaming a battle cry as he drives his right fist to Marshall's jaw, who simply blocks the move. Both are loudily fighting on the small ring of the room.

"I couldn't agree more. Now I realize how much I needed some time away from the UK." Answers Steve, in his distinctive British accent, in between breaths while making push-ups.

Between the screams of Paul and Marshall, a cellphone rings in the distance. Steve recognizes his ringtone, and quickly stands. He walks a little to keep his privacy and then answers the call.

"Hello?" he says.

"Steve! How are you doing?" The man answers.

"Hello, Lei. I'm doin' good, and you?"

"I'm fine as well. But are you sure you're good? You sound tired." Lei remarks.

"I was just training, that's all." There's a very quick pause. "I've already invited you to join us here, you know."

"I know, I know. And you can be sure I would love to be enjoying Miami right now, _if you know what I mean._ " Both of them laugh. "But both of us know I have some work to do here in Asia."

"And with 'some work', you actually mean 'making miracles'." Both laugh once again.

"Yes, pretty much." Lei says and sighs, slightly disappointed. He loves what he does, but everybody needs a break. "And that's why I'm calling you, actually."

"What's the matter? Have you found anything new?" Steve asks, the anticipation in his voice is clear.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down there. It's not that. I mean, it is, but it's just not what you're expecting."

Steve frowns. "What do you mean?"

"I don't think we should talk about this through the phone." Lei says, ignoring the question. "Do you think you could meet me in person? You know where to find me. I would go to Miami, but I really can't leave here now, as I've said, you know."

Steve sighs. "Alright, alright." He answers, in some tone of defeat. "I'll be there within the week. I just need to buy the airplane ticket."

"Good, then it's settled." Lei answers, in a happy tone. "I don't wanna disturb your training." He says, after a pause. "I see you soon, my friend."

"See you. Good bye." He hangs up and leaves the cellphone in the same place it was.

He silently goes to a punch bag in the right side of Forest, and starts using his boxing technique on it.

"Hey, Steve." Forest says, looking at his friend.

"What?" Steve stops and looks back.

"When are going on that Cuban pub again?" Both of them smirk.

* * *

 _[Day 1]_

 _Monday, 15:48 UTC (17:48 in local time)  
_ _Cairo, Egypt_

Watching the sunset in the pyramids of Egypt is certainly not a privilege many people will have in this life. Only the gold of the sky could momentarily steal the gold of the pyramids. In this time of the day, the ancient buildings are all but a huge black shadow that contrasts with the orange and yellow sky behind them. A woman in her early twenties is watching it intensily, her dark brown eyes now in an orange tone thanks to the reflection.

The woman closes her eyes for a second. _The world should be always this beautiful. Unfortunately, the evil got in the way_ , she thinks. She opens her eyes again, not wanting to miss the sight. _I thought I could have saved the planet from the evil. I guess I was wrong._ She sighs and her eyes meet the ground.

"Zafina!" calls a female voice. Zafina looks up to the person.

"Hello Jasmine, my friend." She says, smiling.

"This is definitely a sight, right?" Jasmine asks.

"Yes, indeed." Her gaze meets the sun.

"I couldn't help but notice that you seem upset. Is everything alright?" Jasmine says, in a concerned tone.

Zafina looks to her friend for a second. She is wearing a light blue jumpsuit of a simple fabric, constrating to Zafina's golden tank top and white long pants. Jasmine looks not that different from Zafina. Besides bigger eyes, longer hair and a more tanned skin, Jasmine is just like her. They could've been twins. Zafina smiles at thinking of this.

"I am just worried, that's all." She answers.

"Zafina." Jasmine says with a low voice tone, putting her left hand on Zafina's right shoulder. "I know it is not that simple."

Zafina sighs. "So do I."

Jasmine then hugs her friend from the side, with her left hand now holding Zafina's left arm, and right hand being held by Zafina's left hand in the front, as they watched the sun go away.

* * *

 _[Day 1]_

 _Monday, 17:12 UTC (18:12 in local time)  
Barcelona, Spain_

Two men are running as fast as they can through the back alleys of Barcelona. Their long orange and black hairs flying angrily, their leather boots stomping on the pavement.

"Dude, I'm definitely coming to Barcelona more often!" Hwoarang says, keeping his pace as fast as he can while on leather pants.

After running a couple more minutes, they come to a stop, breathing heavily.

Miguel bursts out laughing. "I will be pleased to have you back here." He answers, only now.

Both sit on the ground, backs facing the walls. Miguel unbuttons his orange shirt, in an attempt to cool himself. Hwoarang seeing that, he copies his friend's idea and unzips his strapless vest. They put their hands on the full back pockets of their pants. But not full of anything: full of money.

"Those bastards earned it." Miguel says, in his thick Spanish accent. "No one kicks me and mi amigo out from a bar!"

Hwoarang chuckles. "We lost their good beer, but got a good fight. And some money." Miguel smirks at this remark.

The partners start counting the money as the bustling city around them continues to buzz.

"I got 400 here." Hwoarang breaks the silence.

Miguel finishes counting around the same time. "I got 450."

Both start to get up and walk back to Miguel's place.

"Might I ask you somethin'?" Hwoarang says.

"Sí."

"Doesn't this place bring back too many memories?"

Miguel keeps himself silently for a few seconds. "Sí. And that's why I stay here."

Hwoarang smiles an imperceptible smile. "You must've really loved your sister. Not that I doubted, though."

"She was the reason I woke up everybody." Miguel says. "I mean, literally, because she would throw cold water to wake me up in the hangovers."

Hwoarang bursts into laughter. "My master does the same to me."

"He's almost like a father to you, ain't he?"

Hwoarang takes some seconds to answer. "Almost? No. He is."

Miguel smiles to his friend. "You have a good guardian. Baek is a nice guy."

"And to think I almost lost him some years ago… I mean, I'm not sure if I could've stayed in Korea if that happened, just like you've stayed here in Spain."

Miguel frowns. "Almost lost him? What do you mean?" Then he realizes this might be a delicate topic. "I mean, if I might ask."

Hwoarang laughs softly. "It's fine." The Blood Talon runs his hand through his red-orange hair, thinking. "Some God of fight, or something like that, was taking down many good fighters some years ago. One of them was Baek."

Miguel's jaw drops, but he keeps silent so Hwoarang can continue. "That was one of the reasons I entered the Third King Of Iron Fist Tournament."

"Revenge on the monster?" Miguel concludes out loud.

"Yes." Hwoarang answers. "And on that goddamn Kazama."

Miguel frowns again. "Why?"

"We had a draw in a street fight some time before the tournament." Hwoarang sighs in frustration. "I was obviously doing better than him, you know."

Miguel laughs at this. "So you're rivals?"

"Yeah." The Blood Talon shrugs his shoulders.

After some minutes of silence, Hwoarang breaks the silence as they arrive at Miguel's place.

"I don't think I need to say Baek _can't_ know about this, right?"

Miguel laughs loudly, and gives him a friendly tap in the back. "Of course you don't."

* * *

 _Monday, 17:35 UTC (12:35 in local time)  
Somewhere in The Bahamas_

 _(*the Fiji theme from Tekken 1 is playing in the background*)_

Lee's enormous tropical mansion is electric as the many guests pass by, heading either to the dance floor, to the pool or to the private bar.

"Nothing like a good party in The Bahamas" Lee says, laughing, while laid on a sun lounger, his grey hair pushed back by the black sunglasses on his head.

"I couldn't agree more." Anna says, sipping some champagne in a sun lounger by his side. "I wish Kazuya would transfer headquarters every month."

Both laugh. "Having some more days off in the calendar would definitely be good." Lee says.

"Although I can't deny being away from good ol' Kazzy," Anna says, playfully, "is quite a torture." She pushes her short brown hair back with her hand in a sensual manner.

"You mean relief?" Lee says, and both laugh again.

"You know _damn well_ what I mean." Anna says, seductively.

Lee narrows his eyes playfully. "I thought you preferred _my_ company."

Anna examines him from head to toe, then locks her gaze with his eyes and smirks. "You should be enough to get by."

Lee is served a glass of champagne as he watches the party. He wears simply blue swimming trunks.

"Has Kazuya already said where the new headquarters are going to be?" Anna asks.

"Not yet." Lee sighs and sips the champagne.

"So how are we supposed to go back tomorrow if we don't know where to head to?"

Lee looks to Anna, shrugs his shoulders, and raises both eyebrows, as to say ' _that's how it is with him._ '

"The plane is going to be here for us, regardless of our knowledge of the destination." Lee says, already looking back at the party.

Deciding that paying mind is stupidity when there's a wild party going on, Anna gets up and leaves her empty glass in a desk.

"I'm going to dance. Are you coming?" She asks Lee seductively.

"I'm just going to finish this glass. Go ahead, I join you later."

Lee watches as Anna walks, in her usual seductive way, to the dance floor. He checks her bikini body up and down.

" _Excellent._ "

 **End of Chapter One**

* * *

 _ **Author's** **notes:**_ Hello! My name is Carolina, and this is my first fanfiction. :P  
I'll be leaving all author notes in the end of each chapter so you don't have to bother skipping it in case you don't want to read it.

As you may have already realized, this fanfic will be describing what's happening with many characters at the same time. But it all will eventually culminate together in the end. More characters will eventually appear in the story. So relax - if your favorite is not in this chapter, it might be in the next one. Stay tuned!

In this first chapter, specifically, I was trying to be more mysterious, that's why the descriptions are rather short - it's purposeful. It ended up being quite short actually (something around 2900 words without the author's notes), but the next ones will be longer.

I would like to cite the writers that, upon reading their works, inspired me to write a fanfiction of my own: SomeStoriesDeserveToBeTold, Psychoblue and Desiderio. (If you're in the Tekken fandom, you probably already know them. :P)

I hope you liked it, and don't be embarrassed to review! :)  
 _Thank you!_


	2. Quite an Interesting Tuesday

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter Two: Quite an Interesting Tuesday**

 _[Day 2]_

 _Tuesday, 05:12 UTC (00:12 in local time)  
Miami, Florida, United States Of America_

"Hey, look over there." Steve says, pointing with his head in the direction of the small dance area, his blonde hair shaking slightly. He is wearing a red button shirt and black jeans, with white sneakers.

Forest, who is sat down in the stool of the bar, is wearing quite similar clothes – yellow button shirt and light grey jeans with black sneakers. "What is it?" He asks.

Steve just signals with his head again, and Forest turns. He scans the pub's heavily crowded dance floor for some seconds, until he sees a woman who stands out from the rest of the people.

"The brunette?" Forest asks, without turning back to Steve.

"Yeah." He says, also looking to the woman.

What makes the woman stand out is definitely her exposed curves. She's wearing a leather bra with low waist grey and white striped pants, which also expose part of a leather panty, accompanied of black stilettos. She is white and has a heart tattoo under her bellybutton, and has a brown long hair matching the brown of her sunglasses.

"Quite a view." Forest says. Steve nods, although Forest doesn't see it since he hasn't taken his eyes out of the woman.

She is dancing freely to the Cuban music that is playing the pub, just as the people around her. Suddenly, a man grabs her butt, and she quickly turns and puts her right hand on her hip. The man who did it smiles to her in a dirty way, and she simply spins in the air, lifting her right leg and bringing it down in his head, putting him on the ground. A few people who were closer stopped to see what had just happened, but rest just kept dancing, just as the band kept playing. Seemingly pissed off, she leaves the dance area, heading to the bar.

"What the hell?!" Forest says, taken aback.

"She's coming over there." Steve says, but is obviously just as surprised.

Hearing that, Forest turns to meet the bar in front of him, keeping his back against the stool in a relaxed position. Steve keeps turned to the same direction, putting his elbow in the bar counter, discretely watching her behind Forest. The woman sits one stool away from them, and asks for a _mojito_ , a drink made with rum, sparkling water, sugar, lemon juice, ice and mint.

"Quite a jerk, huh?" Steve says in his remarkable accent, loud enough for the woman to hear. She turns as she sips from her glass. "He earned it." He continues.

The right corner of her mouth smiles, and she finishes sipping, putting her glass on the counter. "He messed up with the wrong girl." She answers in a thick accent, although it's hard to say where she might be from.

"No real man does such thing." He continues.

She smiles briefly and looks away. After a short pause, she looks back to him. "What's your name?"

"I'm Steve." He says, getting up and going to her direction. "Can I?" He says pointing with his head to the stool on her right.

"Sure." She says, and he sits. Forest simply watches in astonishment. _How does he do that?,_ he thinks.

"You're not from here, right?" She asks, surprising Steve. Then he remembers he is a British man in American territory.

"Yep. I'm from England." He answers. "And you? Where are you from?" He asks casually.

"Brazil." She says. _That explains that body_ , he thinks.

"I'm sorry, but I think I don't know your name." He says shyly.

She laughs softly. "It's Katarina."

"Well, it suits you." He says, smiling briefly. "You did quite a kick there, huh?" He says, laughing.

She laughs back. "Thanks. It's savate."

"Savate? You mean, like, French kickboxing?"

"Yeah, that's right." She says, and then sips her drink.

"You must be kidding me."

She is confused for a second, but then it hits her. There is that rivalry between the French and the British. She doesn't really get it, although Brazil has a rival of its own, which is Argentina. And she _hated_ those goddamn Argentinians. "Oh." She laughs and puts her empty glass on the counter.

"Sorry to say this, but the good ol' British boxing is far better." He says playfully.

She laughs again. "And sorry to say this, but I can kick their ass regardless."

Both laugh. "So you think you can kick my ass?" Steve asks.

"What?" She frowns slightly. "Wait, you're a boxer?"

He smiles and raises an eyebrow playfully as a positive answer. She laughs back.

" _Hm…_ " She emits a sound, analyzing him from head to toe. " _Easily._ " She teases, leaning a bit forward in his direction as to emphasize it.

"What about some rounds?" He says in the same tone, also leaning forward, although his intentions by saying this are clearly different. Few inches separate their faces now.

She raises her eyebrow and puts a sassy expression on her face. "You don't play around, huh?" She asks, eyeing his whole face. He keeps himself silent, eyeing her back. _He's lucky he's hot_ , she thinks, smirking. _Otherwise, I would've indeed kicked his ass already_. She then closes her eyes and kisses Steve, who follows suit.

* * *

 _[Day 2]_

 _Tuesday, 09:22 UTC (10:22 in local time)  
_ _Venice, Italy_

"Remember me of following your suggestions more often!" The girl says cheerily, bouncing her two black ponytails. "This vacation is all I needed!"

The other girl chuckles. "Italy is beautiful! Venice is soooo romantic!" She answers, holding both her hands together and looking up dreamily. "I just wish I had a boyfriend." She says, now in an upset tone, looking to her feet.

"Oh Miharu, like we need boys to be happy!" She says in a mocking tone.

"Now you say that, but minutes later you'll be blabbering about _you-know-who_ …"

"Miharu!" She answers, angrily. "That's not true."

"Xiao." Miharu says in a serious tone, as she stops walking, holding her friend's shoulder. "Relax. I'm not saying that's a problem. It's fine to care about someone." Xiaoyu timidly nods once. After this pause, Miharu continues to talk and to walk. "Anyway, sorry for bringing it up. It's not what I meant, but you left me no choice! Let me dream about my future husband!" She says in a mocking angry tone. Both of them laugh.

"Oh, I wish Panda could be here! She would love Europe." Xiaoyu sighs. "But I think a time in the forests might be better for her. She's still a bear, you know."

They keep walking through the busy open-air market, oblivious to the fact that they are being followed. Their summer dresses float graciously in the air as they walk. Miharu's is a strapless light blue lace piece, while Xiaoyu's is a plain light yellow one with three-quarter sleeves. Both are wearing white sandals and no earrings.

"Hey, look!" Miharu says, pointing to something. "There's a lovely café there!"

"Let's go!" Xiaoyu says, and they run towards it like two playful kids, Miharu's white purse and Xiaoyu's pink one kicking angrily.

They get into a cozy and small café shop. The sweet smell of coffee caresses their noses. They choose a desk close to a window and sit. Miharu orders a _café miel_ while Xiaoyu asks for the classical _cappuccino_. They keep blabbering about the wonderful vacation they've been having while sipping their coffees. Xiaoyu notices from the corner of her eye a black-haired man with blue eyes and an odd tattoo in the face sitting in a desk nearby. There is something very weird about him. Or maybe it's just the fact that he keeps watching them talk, not taking his eyes off of them for even a second. When the girls are finished, they go to the cashier.

"Excuse me, but do you guys have a restroom here?" Xiaoyu asks after paying.

"Sì, the female restroom is just over there." He says, pointing to a door in the far other side.

"Thank you." She says to him, and then she grabs Miharu by the wrist. "Come with me! I need to check my makeup."

They both go towards it. "Makeup?" Miharu asks, laughing.

"Yes, of course! I don't wanna look like a zombie in the photographs of our trip!" Xiaoyu answers playfully.

The man keeps looking at them from the desk, and seeing that both have entered the restroom, he watches the door, patiently waiting for them to leave.

Xiaoyu suddenly wears a serious expression and whispers as low as she can. "There's a man watching us. In a desk nearby."

Miharu frowns. "Are you sure? Maybe it's just another client." She asks in the same volume.

"He didn't order anything and kept looking at us, like, _all_ the time." Xiaoyu answers. "What if he follows us?!"

Miharu's eyes widen. "What do we do?!"

"Let's act normally and see if he does. If so, then we'll have to outwit him." There's a pause. "Everything is going to be okay, relax. Maybe you're right and I'm just being paranoid." Xiaoyu says, trying to calm her friend.

It seems that it worked, because Miharu goes back to a normal expression. "Okay." She sighs nervously.

Both leave, and Xiaoyu tells a stupid joke as they do so, and both laugh. From the corner of her eye, Xiaoyu sees that the man was watching the restroom door. Outside the café, they're walking through the fruit fair, which is still busy. They stop for a second in the tent of a florist, and Xiaoyu realizes the mysterious man is indeed following them. Walking fast, the girls take a right turn between two market stalls, which lead them to an alley. They keep turning right, and then left, and then repeating the process, in an attempt to keep changing directions. When they get to a street, which in Venice is actually a waterway, they enter a water taxi, telling the driver the name of the hotel they're staying in.

Xiaoyu looks around. "No sign of him." Miharu sighs in relief.

Xiaoyu takes the money out of her pink purse and pays the driver as they arrive. The friends get in the hotel, childishly jumping towards the elevator.

"Come on, Miharu! We have to get our things! We can't miss our flight, there's still Milan to visit!"

"Yay! I can't wait to go shopping!" With that said, the elevator door closes.

Unfortunately, they failed to see the follower was there waiting for them in the lobby. Sitting in one of the couches, he gets up and goes towards the elevator. Seeing that it has stopped on the third floor, he already knows where to head to.

He presses the button and waits for the elevator to come back to ground floor. He adjusts the white and gold coat of his suit while waiting. As the doors open, he gets in there while fixing the bandages of his right arm. When the man gets to the third floor, he finds himself in an empty corridor of pastel beige walls and vintage golden wall lamps in between doors. "It shouldn't be hard to find them", he mumbles to himself in Italian. His silent steps meet the red carpeted floor. One by one, he presses his ear against the dark brown wooden doors. Most are silent – the tourists are probably enjoying the day in the city. Two rooms had television noises – he is sure of that because one of them was talking about some civil war and called a reporter correspondent in South America, which leads to the conclusion that it is a news program, and the other one was saying the names of many products and its prices, which means it was a department store advertisement. After another silent doors, the last one in the corridor emits giggling sounds. Pressing his ear on it, he distinguishes two different female voices speaking in an Asian language. He smirks. _Bingo_.

Inside the room, Xiaoyu and Miharu are dreaming out loud about all the clothes they are planning to buy in Milan as they pack their things, with their bags on the bed.

"As far as I buy a fancy Versace dress, I'm happy." Miharu says, and both laugh.

"I want a Fendi purse soooo bad!" Xiaoyu continues the talking. "Oh! Remember those Dolce & Gabbana jeans we saw on TV? I want those too!"

"Don't forget some pairs of Prada sunglasses! They are soooo in!" Miharu says, giggling. "Hey, I need to go to the bathroom. Just a second." She leaves a half-folded shirt on the bed and goes to the washroom.

 _This is my chance_ , the man thinks. Looking through the keyhole, he sees that Xiaoyu's back is facing the door. Taking a kitchen knife out of his jacket, he takes a few steps backward and then runs in the direction of the door.

The door crashes with the impact of his shoulder, and Xiaoyu jumps out of surprise. Before she's able to turn, the man puts his right arm around her neck, putting the knife very close to her flesh, and puts his left arm in her mouth before she's able to scream, although she still manages to make some muffled noise. Even though she's a very skilled fighter, the man caught her off guard and is much bigger than her, besides the fact that he is holding her too tight. She doesn't give up struggling, though – if she's not able to free herself, she can at least slow him down. He carries her through the stairs, and reaches the top of the building. Walking towards the limits, he releases her mouth and grabs her neck, suspending her in the border of the rooftop. Unfortunately, instead of a waterway, there's a bridge under her, which means that if she falls, she'll collapse onto the hard concrete. He is holding her neck tight enough for her not to be able to scream, but she manages to whisper half-breathily.

"Who… are you?! What do you… want?!" She says angrily, with all her strength.

"I need answers. And you have them." He says.

Instead of saying ' _Me?_ ', she frowns to express the same idea, in an effort to maintain her breath.

"Yes, you." He says. "I know you are close to Jin Kazama. I want to know where he is."

Xiaoyu can't stop herself from laughing. When the man was about to ask ' _Do you think this is a joke?_ ', she speaks.

"I know as much as you do." He frowns at hearing this.

"Don't play dumb with me!" He says angrily, tightening his grip. She didn't even think it was possible to make it tighter, but it seems it is.

"I… don't… know…" She murmurs almost silently, struggling to breath, a tear escaping for her eye.

The man releases her in the ground of the rooftop. She falls on four while regaining her breath. He maintains his hands away but keeps standing on her side closely, ready to act if she decides to do something.

"Listen to me." He says sounding like an authority. "You have the information I want. And you are going to tell me. I want to know it."

"Google it then, _jerk_." Miharu says in the door of the emergency stairs room. He looks at her. " _Nobody_ messes up with Xiao." She says angrily, frowning at the man in the meanest way she can. While he distracted himself for a second paying attention on Miharu, Xiaoyu managed to creep to her friend's direction.

He sighs. "Look." He says, calmly. "I am not a thief. I am not evil. I am seeking your help. We can do this in the easy or in the hard way."

"What a way to get help, huh?" Xiaoyu says while getting up and facing him, with a voice still affected by the grip she had around her neck just seconds ago.

"Who are you?!" Miharu asks, still angry.

He scoffs at hearing this. "I am the one who's here to make questions."

"Ah, shut up already!" Miharu says, fuming and getting into her fighting stance. Xiaoyu does the same.

He smirks and gets into his own fighting stance. " _Make me._ "

Miharu explodes at hearing this and charges at him in full speed, while Xiaoyu walks cautiously through the right, being prepared to attack him when Miharu finishes her own attack. Miharu jumps and attempts to make the Shooting Star, which consists on kicking the opponent's face a few times while in the air, but he crouches and she falls with the butt on the ground, behind him. While he gets up, Xiaoyu makes the Fire Dancer by kicking him with the left leg while spinning 180º, then standing and kicking him through her shoulders with her right palm followed by the left palm, and finishing the attack with a kick of her right leg while still facing her back to him, launching him upwards.

After falling, he instantly rolls backwards and gets up, while Miharu has already made her way to the left side of Xiaoyu. The three of them resume their fighting stances, and the man goes offensive this time. He makes a 360º flying somersault, with his left foot knocking Xiaoyu on the ground. When he lands, he keeps himself crouched and quickly spins 180º, kicking Miharu on her ankles, making her loose balance with his right leg. Then, he takes a few steps, going back to where he was.

Both girls get up at the same time. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He says in mocking tone.

Miharu frowns even further and attacks him with a Bayonet Thruster, hitting him with the left hand followed by the right one, and then a more powerful blow with the left palm to push him away, but he blocks the combo easily. Before he is able to make an attack of his own, Miharu makes a Backflip, taking him off guard and sending him to the ground. When he gets up, he meets with Xiaoyu's palms as she performs the May Flowers, hitting her right hand in his face and her left hand in his stomach.

He charges at Xiaoyu, slapping her in the face with the right limb, then making her crouch with his left palm hitting her head and then using his left shoulder, he hits her hard in the chest to send her flying away. Miharu, who was right behind her friend attempts to charge at him, but he's faster and performs a similar attack he did on Xiaoyu, hitting his right palm in her face. But the combo, however, finishes differently, as he uses the same palm to hit her hard in the stomach, which makes she cross her arms over her belly and fall on her back.

As they get up, he says " _Il mio potere!_ " while his left eye shines white, and attacks again. Giving a hard punch on Xiaoyu's stomach, he follows by sending her upwards with the other fist. As she rises, his right arm releases some sort of blue light, which he expands with his arms like it is an arrow, and shoots Xiaoyu with it while she's midair. The girl is sent flying, hitting Miharu and sending both to collapse on the wall of the stairs room. The wall cracks heavily, and both girls fall onto the ground.

As they struggle to get up, Xiaoyu asks between coughs. "What… are… you?"

He ignores the question. "There's still time to make it the easy way."

The girls look at each other while both are struggling, barely on fours. Xiaoyu has a questioning look on her face, which Miharu answers with a defeated expression of her own.

Xiaoyu sighs. "What do you want from us?" She says, looking at him.

He gets out of his fighting stance and slowly walks towards them. "I want all your knowledge about the Mishimas. Preferably, their location."

"I've already told you." Xiaoyu frowns. "I really don't know where Jin is." After a pause, she continues. "I want to know just as much." She looks to the ground, disappointed.

The man can sense in her tone and expression that she's telling the truth, but he needs to get everything he can out of her. "Don't you have any clue?" After she keeps herself silent, he continues. "Wasn't he in the charge of the Zaibatsu?"

"He was." She says matter-of-factly.

"So he isn't anymore?"

"I don't know, I was just agreeing with your statement." She says, sighing. "Look," she starts, facing him again. "If you're really looking forward to stop their fighting, I would be pleased to help you, but I don't know anything." She says frankly. The man seems to be thinking deeply. "Satisfied?" He frowns.

"I thought you were his friend." He says in a normal tone, but Xiaoyu takes it as an accusation.

"I _am_ his friend." She wears an angry expression. "And again, who are you?"

He thinks of a way to get out the question, but since they've collaborated and have been sincere, he decides to answer. _Only this one_ , he thinks. "My name is Claudio. Claudio Serafino."

Xiaoyu is now on her knees, while Miharu is sitting on the floor. Both are looking him up and down, actually paying attention on his appearance for the first time. He is very tall, probably close to 190 cm of height, and has black hair and light blue eyes. He is wearing a white suit with golden details, too fancy to be wore in a ride through the streets of Venice. The coat of his outfit, however, doesn't cover his right arm – instead, the limb is covered with dark grey bandages. There appears to be some sort of tattoo under them, in a similar fashion of the one under his left eye.

"After all, is Kazama still the head of the Zaibatsu?" He asks.

"Officially, yes…" Miharu says facing the man. " _Right?_ " She concludes, looking at Xiaoyu.

Her friend simply shrugs. "I guess so." She says in an innocent tone.

"But he hasn't been seen since the sixth tournament." Claudio thinks out loud.

"Yep. That's right." Miharu agrees, oblivious to the fact that he was speaking to himself.

 _Well, they clearly don't know anything_ , he thinks. _Asking them about Kazuya would be useless, since they're not close to him_. Then it hits him.

"What about Heihachi Mishima?" He says.

"Huh?" Xiaoyu answers, frowning.

"You were close to him. Do you know his whereabouts?"

There is a moment of silence while Xiaoyu and Claudio simply stare at each other before she speaks.

"Being close to a Mishima means they haven't had any reasons to kill you so far, and that's all." She says this in such a sincere tone, that it takes Claudio and even herself aback. After a second, he leans and help both stand.

"Perdono." He says with a concerned tone. "I must be going. I wish we had met in better circumstances." With that said, he leaves so fast that it doesn't give the girls any time to ask anything else. And they are too astonished to do so, anyway.

Both look at each other, confusion in their faces. Miharu breaks the silence. "What a weirdo."

* * *

 _[Day 2]_

 _Tuesday, 12:59 UTC (21:59 in local time)  
Seoul, South Korea_

A 50-year-old man of long greyish hair has just gotten out of the shower and is in his bedroom changing to his sleeping clothing, which consists of a simple black cotton shirt and white pants. Suddenly, the telephone rings. With a clue of who might be calling, he picks up the phone.

"Baek's Taekwondo Dojo."

"Master! It's me, Hwoarang!" The voice on the other side of the lines speaks. It is indeed who he presumed it was.

"Oh my pupil, how many times have I told you not to talk too loud?" Baek says, sighing.

"Sorry, Master." Hwoarang says in a defeated tone. "I think it's late there in Korea, right? Sorry for disturbing. It's afternoon in here."

"I don't think it is ever late for you." Baek says, and both laugh.

"It's just that you wanted me to call you before getting in the plane back."

"It's good to know of you." Baek smiles briefly. "In what time are you arriving here?" He asks.

"Tomorrow morning." He answers. "Sorry Master, but I have to hang up now, I need to get in the plane." He says, after a pause.

"Alright. I will pick you up tomorrow. Have a good flight. Good bye." Baek says, and Hwoarang hangs up.

Baek takes his white robe back to the bathroom, hanging it on a metal hook on the tile wall and turns to the sink. He brushes his teeth with a green brush while facing himself in the mirror. He goes back to his bedroom, and lays down on the bed, accommodating himself under the warm and soft blankets.

As usual, he thinks of his father and how much he still misses him. It is a stubborn wound in his heart that never heals. It bleeds constantly as a reminder of his repentance. Even if his father's death was an accident, Baek could never stop blaming himself. How could he? He was the one who did it. He saw his own beloved father die in front of his eyes. Baek remembers it like it was just yesterday. His father falling like a rock on onto the ground and not getting back up. _Only if I had been slower, if I had been weaker, had been softer, been moderate, gentler… only if._

The sadness slowly pushes him towards a sleeping state, the gloom embracing him to another dreamless night.

Some minutes have passed. Maybe an hour. When Baek finally starts to sleep, a sudden noise comes from the dark. Baek shoots his eyes open.

Taking careful steps out of the bed, he heads to the center of the dojo. Leaning on the wall, he cautiously looks through the open door of the corridor, the one that leads to the sparring room. The only source of light is the pale moonlight, which makes shadows of the already dark objects disposed in there. Suddenly, he sees something moving. Precisely, not something, but _someone_.

It seems that someone went to the far other side of the dojo, where Baek's office is. When he hears a noise of a door trying to be opened, that supposition is confirmed, so Baek slowly walks to that direction, stooping to hide behind objects.

Suddenly, a click is heard, and a door creaks as it is opened. The intruder turns on the light of the room and gets in. It is indeed his office. Something in Baek's mind say that he has already seen that person before, but nothing clicks, even though that reddish hair in ponytails is quite odd.

With its back facing Baek, the intruder a light purple long-sleeved shirt resembling a kimono and tight black gi pants, combined with white ankle boots with shoelaces. Leaving a knife on the table, she starts to search the shelves.

Baek is now in the door, and the thief seems to have not realized him there. He then clears his throat. " _Ahem._ " The person stops dead in its tracks. "I don't think you have been invited."

The person simply turns. Baek's jaw drops as he recognizes who it is, thanks to the unforgettable fox mask.

" _Kunimitsu._ "

Without saying a word, she gets into her fighting stance, and so does him. Baek is the first to attack, aiming a simple high kick, but she easily blocks it. He then proceeds to a combo consisting of three high kicks with his left leg followed by another high kick with his right leg – the Butterfly Kicks. She simply crouches, and makes an attack of her own. Using her right leg for supporting, she stretches her left leg and spins, making her Manji Spin Low Kicks. After six hits in a row, she stops spinning by putting her left leg on the ground and gives him a high front kick with the right leg, which sends him through the door out of the office. Before he gets up, she quickly grabs her knife with her right hand and walk towards him, already in her fighting stance.

Baek growls out of anger while he gets up and resumes his own fighting stance. They circle each other for a while, until Baek goes offensive and kicks her twice with his left leg – once in her face, and once in her legs – followed by a punch in the stomach with his right hand. As he finishes this Trident Rush, she steps back and performs the Katon, which consists of blowing fire in the opponent's face. Baek has no idea how she has done that. It was too fast for him to see. All he had time to do was to jump back in an attempt to dodge, but he failed miserably and is now rolling in the ground, trying to make the burning stop.

Kunimitsu has kept herself silent through all the fight. Not even a gasp has come out of her mouth. She is patiently waiting for her opponent to get up, and when he does, she simply performs the Cycle of Rebirth with her knife, cutting him in the left arm and in the right side of the face. Baek was caught off guard by this move, because he had presumed she would wait for him to attack first, just like she had done before. He collapses onto the ground.

This time, he struggles to get up. After using all of the strength he has left, he manages to do it after some long seconds. When he faces the Fox Lady, however, she is not on her fighting stance. She is simply standing still and smirking. He slowly approaches her but, inexplicably, each step is weaker than the one before. After three steps, his arms are already falling down to his sides, getting out of his stance. He breathes hard and attempts to take a fourth step, but collapses on the ground with his face down. This time, there is no strength left on him at all. He feels a hand in his hair, which suspends him. He is completely lightheaded, but still manages to see Kunimitsu in front of him. Through his half-closed eyes and blurry vision, he sees her shaking the knife in her hand playfully, meaning that it is the reason he's passing out right now.

Suddenly, she puts him sitting with his back against a column and walk away. The last thing Baek saw before fainting was Kunimitsu coming back with a rope.

* * *

 _[Day 2]_

 _Tuesday, 13:35 UTC (06:35 in local time)  
Phoenix, Arizona, United States Of America_

Julia is inside her apartment, precisely in her bedroom, packing her things. She is folding her few clothes in a sloppy manner and putting them inside her black suitcase on the top of her bed as her gaze is locked in the recently found ancient pendant. It is placed on the nightstand, where the yellow illumination of the vintage lampshade makes the red gemstones and the golden of the necklace glitter in a dreamy way. Looking how the light shines in the pendant makes Julia enter in some sort of trance, leading her into a reverie that puts her heart at ease.

Suddenly snapping out of it and deciding that she has had enough of such inattention because of the collar, she grabs it and hides it underneath her clothes inside the bag. Either to purposely try to bring the hallucination back or simply to relocate the object, she had already grabbed the pendant a few other times after she first got it in her hands, but nothing would ever happen. Not like it did in the first time.

As she finishes packing, she zips the suitcase and sits beside it on her bed. Putting her elbows on her knees and her face on her palms, she sighs. Kazuya Mishima himself had called her just minutes ago stating that he had a reassignment for her, which would "be discussed in person", in his own words. He said a private jet would be waiting for her in the city airport to take her to G Corporation's headquarters, although not mentioning where to. Her friend, Lee Chaolan, had stated in a casual call some days prior that Kazuya was in progress to relocate the headquarters of the company because of security matters. Because of it, besides the very few employees involved in the transition, all the others were given a few days off.

She wasn't very fond of the idea of working for Kazuya Mishima. She had enjoyed working under her mentor, Professor T, back in the day when G Corporation was solely a genetics company. Eventually, Kazuya became the CEO, and now she couldn't help but feel uneasy being under his commands. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do, since quitting would probably not be something he would like. And when Kazuya dislikes something, he _destroys_ that something. She knew better not to mess up with him.

She was also not very fond of the idea of leaving home. Besides travelling for the Tekken matches, she would always stay in Arizona. Leaving her tribe had already been too much, and now she would leave the state, maybe even the country, depending on where G Corp is now. She had first left her tribe in the North of Arizona and moved to this apartment in the capital of the state to enroll in university, just after the third King of Iron Fist Tournament. While attending it, she worked for G Corporation under her college archeology professor, in a project named GENOCELL, which would eventually be stolen by the Mishima Zaibatsu. Attempting to recover it in the fourth tournament and subsequently succeeding in the fifth, she was "put in an indefinite hiatus until reassignment", in the words of Kazuya Mishima himself. She took her free time to use GENOCELL to reforest her homeland, which had been her actual intention since the very beginning. While there, a land owner with psychic powers predicted that "if the two devils clash, an even greater evil will be unleashed on Earth". She knew those were Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama, and upon hearing news of an upcoming sixth tournament, she entered it to defeat them. Unfortunately, Kazuya found out her plans and kept her captive in one of G Corporation's facilities. After that, she thought she would enter his long list of enemies, but it proved to be wrong.

Julia lifts her head up and looks at the clock on the nightstand. _My flight in G Corp's airplane is only at night_ , she thinks. _There is no time to waste_. She stands with determination. Looking at the small round mirror, she adjusts the indigenous headband on her single-braided hair and checks herself. She's wearing her usual knee-length brown boots, blue jeans and a dark red cardigan with a simple brown shirt under it. _There is something I need to do before leaving Arizona._ She leaves the bedroom and heads to the exit, locking the door of her apartment. _More precisely, something I need to find out_. Taking the elevator, she reaches ground floor and goes out the building. After a few minutes of waiting in the sidewalk, she sees a taxi passing by. She waves for it and as it stops, she gets in quickly.

"To the airport, please."

* * *

 _[Day 2]_

 _Tuesday, 14:57 UTC (09:57 in local time)  
Nassau, The Bahamas_

Lee and Anna are walking through the landing strip of the airport, towards G Corporation's private jet. Lee is wearing a dark brown suit with a purple rose in the front pocket of the coat, the latter being over a white shirt and lacking a tie. Anna is wearing a strapless tight zebra dress that goes until her ankles, exposing her navy blue stilettos, and pearl earrings and necklace. Both are whispering sexual jokes to each other and giggling, but as they get closer to the airplane, they regain their composure. As they go up the stairs, both nod to a guard standing beside it. The guard nods back as they pass, and climbs up just after them. Lee and Anna take their seats and fasten their safety belts while the guard closes the door and goes to the cockpit, closing its door as well.

Anna is serving them both some wine while blabbering about yesterday's party, which Lee only pretends to be listening. Now that he is in the plane, it actually feels real. That whole thing of moving headquarters has only hit him now. _Perhaps it's time to take action_ , he thinks. It has already been a while since he's been planning a coup d'état during Kazuya's leadership to take over G Corporation, with Julia Chang, Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch as allies. After the sixth tournament, the world was upside down, like a sandstorm had hit, and there was some sort of nonconsent hiatus in those plans. Now that the dust has settled, but a bit of fog is still present, it's the perfect opportunity. They might not have another chance like this.

Lee didn't have that much to do with G Corporation, actually, since he was simply one of the major shareholders. All he needs to do is show up in some eventual meeting that regards the corporation's estate and nothing else. So far, Kazuya hadn't actually done moves in that field, so the company has no practical influence of Lee.

But what Kazuya hasn't done financially, he has done in the military field. He has arranged a private army just as powerful as the Tekken Force, and is presumably developing weapons in G Corp's laboratories, although Lee doesn't have access to such information. But Lee knows Kazuya too well. Of course Kazuya plans to take over the world. He even involved the firm in the sixth Tekken tournament. But Lee knows he can lead such a big company as G Corporation just as good as Kazuya and without pursuing the path of evil. The world doesn't need more hatred.

The jet has already taken off, and has been in the air for about five minutes. Both are already out of the grip of the safety belts. Anna has stopped talking, and seems to be thinking as well. Lee has just finished his glass of wine. " _Excellent._ "

Anna finishes just after him, and keeps tapping her nails on it. After a moment, she leaves it on the tables, stands and heads to the cockpit.

"Hello there." She says seductively, knocking on the door.

The guard opens it. "What can I do for you, Ms. Williams?"

Anna smirks. "I was just wondering about where we are going."

The security man is noticeably melted because of Anna, and doesn't take his gaze off of her red lips.

"T-to São Paulo, Ms. Williams." He answers, blushing. Anna is taken a bit aback by the answer, and keeps herself silent. "Is there anything else I could do for you, Ms. Williams?" He asks, reluctantly, after a pause.

"No." She says abruptly and goes back to her seat. Confused, the guard blinks. After some seconds, he simply closes the door.

Anna glares at Lee and raises an eyebrow. He is frowning.

 _So, to São Paulo we go_ , she thinks. _Quite an unusual choice. But then again, there has been a lot of support coming from South America. I should've seen that coming_. Serving herself another glass of wine, she moves the bottle towards Lee, offering to serve him another glass. He makes a sign with the hand as to say ' _no, thank you_ ', so she simply puts the bottle back on the table and sips from her glass.

 _I wonder what he is up too._ She takes another sup of wine. _Popularity may be good now, but considering this is Kazuya, it feels too much of a superficial reason for him to move the company to Brazil._ He might keep playing mysterious, but she knows him well enough. He's the type of person to take strong strides, not a simple and short step. _And considering there is something else, what could that be?_ She finishes the glass and puts it on the table. _This makes no sense at all._

Deciding that she has had enough of both the wine and the thoughts about Kazuya's plans, she reclines the seat and hopes to take a nap during this boring flight. She sighs.

 _I just wish he had chosen Rio._

* * *

 _[Day 2]_

 _Tuesday, 19:35 UTC (12:52 in local time)  
Show Low, Arizona, United States Of America_

"This was delicious, Auntie Barbie." Julia says happily, and gets up to help clearing the table.

"Oh, thank you, darling!" Barbara answers as she clears the dark wooden table with Julia. Barbara had been a distant friend of the Chang family, and Julia grew up calling her aunt, although she has rarely seen the woman. As the years passed, Barbara eventually moved out from the tribe when she got married, coming to Show Low, a larger city, where she once had distant relatives. Her husband eventually died. Barbara is wearing a hair tie full of feathers in the end of the single braided black hair. Her eyes are dark brown, and so is her floor-length strap dress, which covers her black sandals. She is on her 40s.

They are now washing the dishes, in a beige granite counter with two sinks. "Auntie." Julia breaks the silence.

"Yes, darling?"

"I have come here because I wanted to talk about my mother." She answers, stopping what she is doing and looking to Barbara.

Surprised by the answer, Barbara stops what she is doing as well and looks to Julia. "What is it?"

Thinking about from where she should begin, Julia continues to wash the dishes. After a second, she talks. "I know she had a pendant, right?"

"Yes, she did." Barbara says reluctantly, as she goes back to what she was doing.

"What was it for?"

"Oh." Barbara says, and thinks for a second. "It had been passed through many generations of our tribe. It was said that it could lead to a great treasure, although nobody knew what it was. Some even speculated that it had immeasurable power." She says. "To me it seemed to be an ordinary pendant, really."

"How did it look like?"

"It was very beautiful, I can't lie, but that was it." Barbara says. "It was a golden circle with some red gems in it, a bigger one in the center." _Just like the one I've found_ , Julia thinks. _So maybe my assumption was right_.

"The Mishima Zaibatsu looked after it in some point, right?" Julia asks.

"Yes, they did." Barbara answers in a sad tone. "They sent a man to infiltrate in the tribe and take it."

"My grandfather." Julia says in an upset tone.

"Yes." Barbara continues, seemingly moved. "But Grandpa Bernard genuinely loved your grandmother, and turned his back to the Zaibatsu. They eventually killed him while he was here in Show Low, while he was visiting some of my relatives, friends of the Changs."

Now Julia understands the sad tone of Barbara's voice. "It was not your fault." Julia says, washing the lather of her hands, and gently placing her right hand on the woman's left shoulder. "It was the Zaibatsu." Barbara nods, trying hard not to cry. "And that's why mother entered the Tekken tournament." Barbara nods again, pulling herself together.

"They eventually kidnapped Grandma Julia as well." Barbara saying, trying hard not to cry again. Julia had been named after her now deceased grandmother.

"That's what led mother to the second Tekken tournament, then." Julia says sadly.

"Thanks to the great spirits, she was able to bring Grandma Julia back." Barbara says with closed eyes, pointing her face upwards, in the direction of said heavens.

They finish washing the dishes, leaving them in a dish drainer. Barbara leads Julia to the living room, and both sit on a dun-colored couch.

"Do you know what happened to the pendant after that?" Julia asks.

"After Michelle came back, she tossed the pendant into the water of a lake." Julia frowns at hearing this. _That's why I found it in the river_ , she thinks. _It must've come from the flow_. "Why are you asking all of this?" Barbara asks out of a sudden.

"It's just that mother never told me much about those things." Julia answers sincerely. "I just want to know the most I can about her, now that she's… gone." Julia says sadly. _Either disappeared or really… dead,… mother is gone_ , she thinks.

"Oh, don't talk like that!" Barbara says, trying not to cry for the zillionth time. She puts her hand on Julia's shoulder. Not wanting to get emotional, Julia simply nods to the woman and tries to think of anything else to ask her. After some seconds, a thought crosses her mind.

"Has she ever talked to you about the tournaments?" Julia asks.

"Not really." Barbara says. "She just said that she lost." She makes a brief pause. "And she brought Grandma Julia back, of course, which was everybody's main concern."

"Hasn't she ever talked about the other contestants? Anyone?" Julia insists.

" _Hm…_ " Barbara enters a state of deep thought. She is trying her best for Julia. Nothing more fair than a daughter trying to know more about the mother. "I think she mentioned something about a sumo fighter." She says uncertainly. "I'm not sure. I think it's just an impression." Julia frowns. " _Hm…_ " The woman starts thinking again. "I don't recall anything." She says sadly.

"It's okay Auntie." Julia says, and smiles. "Thank you very much." They hug each other.

"It's such a blessing to see you, darling." Barbara says emotionally, not letting go. "You've grown so much. You're a beautiful young woman."

"Thank you, Auntie." They release each other from the grip and smile at each other.

"Make sure to visit me more often. I've missed you."

"I will." Julia answers. "I wish I could stay longer, but I have to go now, Auntie."

Barbara wears a sad expression upon hearing this. "Oh, are you sure? You company has been so good!"

"I love spending time with you, Auntie, but I really have to go." Julia says. "I have a business appointment in Phoenix, at night." _It's better not to say it's a flight, because if she asks me about it, I won't know how to answer._

"Oh, what an unfortunate thing." The woman sighs. "Well, it was good to have you here. Let me take you to the door, then."

Both stand up, and Barbara leads Julia to the door, opening it for her guest. "Thank you for having me in such unexpected conditions." Julia says. "I hope I haven't disturbed you."

"Of course not, darling! That's the best surprise I've had in ages!" She smiles warmly.

"I'll visit you more often, I promise." Julia warmly smiles back. "Thank you." She turns and walks away.

Julia walks through the sidewalk, aiming to get to the nearest busy street so she can take a cab.

 _I don't know if this conversation has given me more answers or more questions_ , she wonders, and sighs.

* * *

 _[Day 2]_

 _Tuesday, 23:02 UTC (17:02 in local time)  
Somewhere in Mississippi, United States Of America_

"They're here." The woman says, taking her finger out of her earpiece.

"I will go receive them." He says, and leaves the observation room.

After walking through a few corridors, taking some turns every now and then, he reaches outside, where three people – two women and one man – wait for him in front of a pitch-black car surrounded by a pine forest.

"Raven." The man in the center says. Raven takes out his sunglasses to look at them.

"Lars." She nods back to the owner of the voice. "Nina, Alisa." He nods to the right and to the left at their directions respectively, and both nod back. "Follow me." He turns, putting his sunglasses back, leading the three inside the relatively small military building, as the chauffeur leaves with the car.

Nina Williams is a blonde and cold Irish woman of icy blue eyes. She is wearing one of her usual combat clothes, this one being a pale purple military printed catsuit that covers her whole body from neck to the feet, but leaves her arms exposed. Instead of her usual shoes, these pair of boots have no high heels. Her hair is in a single simple ponytail, as usual. A professional assassin, she had been hired by Jin Kazama to be his personal bodyguard when he assumed the Mishima Zaibatsu. As he technically hasn't left the post of CEO and, _de jure_ , still commands the Zaibatsu, it is still her job to guarantee his safety.

Lars Alexandersson is, _de facto_ , the current CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Although logistically speaking, Nina would probably be the first in line to assume the Zaibatsu, being a Mishima, even if he's an illegitimate child, and also the leader of the Tekken Force, assured him the post. Not that Nina had any interest on it, though.

Lars has no Asian resemblance. Besides his spiky hair, all his other features came from his mother, who's Swedish. He's a white tall man of sandy brown hair and very light blue eyes accompanied with a scar on his left eyebrow. He is wearing a dark grey shirt embraced by the coat of his black suit. After climbing several positions in the Tekken Force, he became the captain of it. Although the men were loyal to the Zaibatsu, they were not pleased with the decisions of the then-new CEO, Jin Kazama. They planned a coup d'état, culminating in the sixth King of Iron Fist tournament. After he came to know Jin's true plans with the world war, he now knows his half-nephew has noble intentions, even if he goes through meandering paths.

Alisa Bosconovitch is a cyborg. She is wearing a monotone pink hair, instead of the dual tone she had during the sixth King of Iron Fist Tournament. Her haircut resembles Marilyn Monroe's signature one. She has no flowers on her hair, instead wearing them on her earrings. She is wearing a strap dress with a round skirt that goes until half her thighs. The print of the piece is plaid of white and red lines contrasting in a dark purple background. Black leather shoelace boots embrace her feet, and knee-length delicate white stockings accompany them. She is also wearing a pair of cotton black gloves covering her whole hand until the wrists. The youthfulness and innocence of her look contrast drastically with the serious tone these people and this place has.

Created by Doctor Bosconovitch to resemble his deceased daughter of the same name, Alisa had been programmed to serve Jin Kazama. She assisted Lars Alexandersson during the sixth Tekken tournament while on safe mode. When they faced Jin, he disabled her safe mode by voice command and ordered her to kill Lars. Lars defeated her, which led her systems to collapse. Jin Kazama himself had said in the occasion that it was a "good riddance to a worthless piece of junk", although she's oblivious to this statement. She was then fixed by Lee Chaolan, an ally, and now has free will. Since Lars temporarily assumed the Zaibatsu, she kept working for the company to assist him.

Raven leads them through a maze of corridors until he stops in front of a door. He opens it and makes a sign with his hand as to invite the guests in. They're greeted with a nod of a woman who's standing inside.

"This is another agent of my organization." Raven breaks the silence after closing the door. "Her codename is Robyn."

"I'm pleased to meet you." Robyn says. "I've been chosen by Raven to assist him in this mission."

The woman has a dark caramel tone of skin, that even in the pale white illumination of the observation room, shines vividly. She has thick, yet defined lips and a large nose. Her eyes are slightly small of a very strong green color accompanied by thin dark brown eyebrows. Her hair is also dark brown, and could only be described as a mix of a black power haircut and a 1980s hairstyle, since part of it is elevated, but the rest falls, and it is heavily curled. In length, it goes until a palm after her shoulder. Either because of her strong and hard gaze or her drop dead beauty, the woman must be quite menacing when necessary.

Robyn wears simply a plain black leather strapless shirt, pants and boots, accompanied by sunglasses, which is the same Raven is wearing.

There are five metal chairs beside a desk of the same material, facing a glass in the wall. Robyn sits in the far left chair, with Raven on her right and Lars taking a seat in the middle. Alisa sits beside Lars and Nina accommodates herself in the far right chair.

"In respect to our alliance and for concern of his health, we haven't talked to him." Raven breaks the silence.

"Thank you." Lars responds. "How is his state?"

"The doctor can explain that better." Robyn says. "He will come here as he finishes scanning him over there." She points to the glass with her head. There is a doctor standing beside the bed making some examination. It doesn't take too long before he leaves the place and knocks on the door of the observation room before entering.

"Excuse me." The doctor says as he closes the door. "My name is Anthony and I'm responsible for the patient's treatment." The man has short grey hair, light green eyes and many freckles and some wrinkles on his face, which are covered in a thick pair of glasses. He is probably in his late 50s and is wearing all-white clothes. "As you know, after being knocked unconscious, he woke up in a very angry state during the trip to this facility. He was sedated, and every time he woke again, he would be enraged and subsequently sedated once again. Ultimately, it was decided to induce him into a coma to prevent any sort of trauma." Anthony makes a pause. "And by rage I mean that his Devil gene was very instable." He adjusts his glasses before continuing. "Now, after a week of an induced coma, we decided it was already a good time to wake him up. And we were right. He is just as new, and completely calm. He is just a bit weak, nothing that good nutrition, rest and saline solutions won't do."

"Is there any sort of amnesia or difficulty to move?" Alisa asks unexpectedly, before anybody could ask anything themselves.

"Not really, actually. He was a bit slow when he first woke up, but he is incredibly fine, which is very, _very_ impressive." He adjusts the glasses once again. "He's memory is intact, although I avoided delicate topics." Anthony puts his hand on his glasses for, like, the millionth time. "He's capacity of speech is intact, but he seems not to be a person of many words, anyway."

"What have you asked him about?" Lars questions.

"The basic. His name, his age, the name of his mother, where is from. I didn't ask about his father nor his grandfather." He answers. "I wanted to ask him more, but you've forbidden me to ask him about the tournaments" He says, looking at Raven. "and it would be useless to ask him about moments of his childhood when I can't check up to see if it's true, since not much is known about it."

"I understand." Lars say. "Would it be a good idea for us to go there now?" He says, looking to Raven, but aiming the question to anybody who knows the answer.

"If it's one at a time, then yes." Anthony says, but Lars' gaze is still locked towards Raven.

"Sure." Raven says.

There is a moment of silence. Causing stress to someone who has just awakened from a coma is definitely not the intention here. After all, who should go in there to talk to _him_?

"Maybe Alisa should go." Robyn breaks the silence, taking everybody aback.

"Me?" She asks, clenching her eyebrows.

"You're the most… _innocent_ one." And with 'innocent', she pretty much means that Alisa has never attempted to do him any harm.

Alisa looks at Lars with indecisive eyes. "It's okay." He says warmly. "She is right. You should go." He points the door with his head.

Anthony opens the door for Alisa, cracking a shy inviting smile to her. She gets up and exits the room silently, followed by the doctor. Before they get inside, Anthony stops and gives her some instructions. "Do not mention the tournaments unless he does himself. Even if he does so, try not to contribute much to the topic. Try to talk about his childhood, or his coma experience, as if you're curious. When you don't know how to proceed, turn your gaze to me and I'll think of something."

She nods slightly. He opens the door for her again, and enters just after her.

"Hello, I'm back with a visit for you." Anthony says in a happy tone to the patient and looks at Alisa. " _Go._ " he whispers to her. She reluctantly walks towards the bed, while the man laid on it watches every move she makes. The doctor keeps watching from far away, standing beside the door.

Although he is paler, he doesn't seem very different from the usual. His raven black hair of odd fashion is not even a bit messed up, and he is wearing a serious expression. But the grim of his gaze is gone. For the first time, he is actually emotionless, with vast vagueness emitting from his eyes. For the very first time, lacking emotions is not only a mask he wears, but an actual state of his spirit.

"Hi Jin." Alisa says in a whisper, almost inaudible.

"I am sorry." He says in a deeply concerned tone, but maintaining his expression intact.

She clenches her eyebrows confusedly. "For what, exactly?"

He keeps himself silent for a second, seemingly struggling inside, as like he is about to say something difficult.

"For insulting you. And turning you against your friend." He hits her with it, taking a weight off his shoulders.

She slightly widen her eyes. She wasn't expecting that. Although she doesn't know what he means with 'insulting', as there are no records of such thing in her database, she decides against asking him about it after seeing how he was relieved for managing to apologize to her. "I accept your apologies." She says and smiles faintly. "How are you feeling?"

" _Uh…_ foggy, I think." He says, but this time looking at the doctor in the far back of the room, who is silently writing notes as he watches the conversation.

"You'll be better soon." She says. "Might I ask you how was it? I mean… the coma." She asks reluctantly. "I have been told that one can sense the things around, but is not able to respond. Is that correct?"

"Yes and no." He says in a monotone. "In your head, you're responding." He looks to the doctor. "The doctor moved my limbs a few times, and when I told him he had ignored my questions, he said I had never asked anything."

"Sorry about it!" Anthony jokes, and laughs lightly. Jin smiles so faintly that only someone as close as Alisa is now can see it.

"And how is it like when you are alone on thoughts?" She asks, but not in act to keep up a conversation, but in actual curiosity. That is a part of human experience she'll never be able to experience. She controls the urge to sigh in frustration because of that.

"It is like a normal life." He says, which makes she frown. "Sometimes I would, _uh…_ be simply walking through empty streets, reading the many signs, one by one… as if there was nothing more entertaining than that." He makes a short pause. "And there really wasn't." He smiles faintly once again. "Then, in between dreams, everything would go black for a while, like it was… _uh…_ loading. I think that's the better word for it." He continues. "But most of times I found myself at home." He cracks a smile, this time a bit more apparent.

"At home?" Alisa asks.

"Yes, at home." He says matter-of-factly, oblivious to the fact that, with the question, she meant that she didn't know what home he is talking about.

"And how was it? I mean, your home?" She risks.

" _Uh…_ " He takes some good seconds to answer. "Wooden. _And…_ surrounded by a forest." He makes another pause. "It was very beautiful."

"And what did you do there?"

" _Uh…_ Not much. I would, _uh…_ watch the sky, and the plants _and…_ the animals."

She looks to the doctor from the corner of her eye, who makes a sign to her meaning that ' _this is enough_ '.

"Jin, I must be going now. But it was good to see you. We will be seeing each other more in the future." She smiles and nods to him, leaving the hospital room with the doctor, both going back to the observation room.

All of the three inside stand as the door is opened. Even though everybody is wearing a serious expression, Alisa can sense everybody is quite surprised. "How was it?" She asks facing the ground.

"That was good." Lars says walking towards her, putting his right hand on her shoulder, smiling briefly to her. She looks to him and returns the smile.

"Well, it seems Jin's memories are really intact, after all." Raven says in his usual serious tone. "If he apologized to you, he remembers the tournament."

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Robyn says. "We still don't know until which point he actually remembers it all or if it's just a bunch of random scenes going on his mind." Raven nods at her, acknowledging her statement.

"This was very impressive." Anthony says. "He did most of the talking. I was expecting the opposite." _We all were_ , Nina thinks.

After a pause, he continues. "But as you can see and as he said himself, things are still _foggy_ …" He adjusts his glasses for the zillionth time. "…so it's better not to push it too far. Maybe Alisa can visit him tomorrow again." He finishes the sentence looking at her. "If he does well again, maybe we can risk to bring somebody else to talk to him… that is, if it is of your interest, of course." He says in an open statement, with his eyes meeting with everybody else's in a quick gaze trip.

"We will discuss that tomorrow." Raven says abruptly. "Might I show you the accommodations?" He asks, pointing to the door with his hand.

After a second, Lars answers. "Yes, please." They all leave, and Raven guides the three guests through the right while Robyn and the doctor go to the left.

Lars reflects about how abrupt Raven was back in the room. But it doesn't take him long to conclude that Raven wants to be the first to talk to Jin about the tournament.

After walking for a couple of minutes, they reach a dead-end grey corridor, with three white doors – one in the left wall, one in the front wall and the other in the right wall.

"These are your rooms." Raven says. "Choose as you will."

"Thank you." Alisa says happily and enters in the door of the front wall. Nina simply nods and follows suit, entering the door in the left.

"Lars." Raven calls. "I would like to make some questions to Jin tomorrow, if that's not a problem."

"It is not." Lars answers. "Just make sure not to push too far." Raven nods, and Lars gets in the door of the right wall.

 **End of Chapter Two**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Hello! Here you are! Chapter 2, _yaaasss **!**  
_ As I said before, the chapters will be quite long (this one has almost 11000 words without the author's notes ** _!_** ).

I also said that more characters would appear, and _TCHARAN **!**_ , here you are: Xiaoyu, Miharu, Baek, Kunimitsu, Claudio and Katarina ** _!_** Raven, Nina and Jin as well, although they had already been _mentioned_ in the previous chapter.  
There was also the mention of another characters in this chapter as well.

I also made sure to come up with some characters of my own, to add up a bit more to the story. That includes:  
Rita, the secretary from the previous chapter. I was uncertain of a name for her, but then I thought of Rita Ora and decided it would fit;  
Robyn, Raven's partner/assistant (if you have actually paid attention, she is pretty much Rihanna);  
Barbara, a very distant friend of Julia. (I mean, she grew up in a goddamn tribe, she had to know somebody else besides her mother and her grandparents, _right?_ ) Both Michelle and Julia have American names that are completely understandable in Spanish/Portuguese, so I tried to follow suit while choosing the name of this character.

I think it's nice to mention too that the names of Julia's grandparents (Bernard and Julia) haven't come out of nowhere - those were the names they had in some Tekken comics published back in 1997/98.

Well, this is it! Thank you _very much_ for reading, and thanks for the reviews!  
 _p.s.: I hate the fact that I can't put multiple exclamation/interrogation marks in a row. This really saddens me. :( **!**_


	3. A Game of Shadows

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter Three: A Game of Shadows**

 _[Day 3]_

 _Wednesday, 01:00 UTC (02:00 in local time)  
Barcelona, Spain_

 _I need to make money. And fast._ She thinks as she walks alone through the streets. The sound of her sand-colored sandals echo on the empty street. This part of the city is so lifeless right now that the buildings look like they've been taken out of a horror movie. The night haunts and the wind blows softly, lifting the girl's short black hair. The livid moonlight reflects on her tanned skin. Her long legs are embraced by azure-colored pants, while her torso is covered by a lime yellow long-sleeved silk shirt. The piece goes until half of her belly, and the sleeves are large and loosen. As accessories, she wears a red belt and red headband.

 _Mi abuela needs me._ She looks sadly to the ground. _Nothing has been the same since this horrible war._ She lifts her head again, keeping an emotionless face. _It separated us from nuestra casa, nuestra familia._ She starts to hear a muffled sound coming from far away, but she can't distinguish what it is. _They are destroying nuestro país_. As she keeps walking on the sidewalk, the noise goes louder, and it sounds like many voices are cheering and screaming at the same time. She finally finds out from where the noise is coming from. There is a small crowd on an alley by her left. She sneaks in, and sees there are two men fighting. She is also able to see people putting money inside some sort of hat on the ground. The place smells like alcohol and blood. Suddenly, everybody screams louder than before. She turns her gaze to the men who were fighting again. It seems one of them has won, and the other is covered in his own blood, laid on the ground. The people who are closer quickly carry the man out of there, and other two men who seem to be some sort of organizers redistribute the money according to the bets. _This is my chance_ , she thinks, determined.

"Who else is going to challenge me?!" The man screams in Spanish. She smirks.

"I am." She says as loud as she can, and the people who were by her side take a step backwards, giving her space. Then, she repeats herself in a more severe tone. "I am."

The man laughs loudly, and most people follow suit. "You?!"

She frowns angrily. "Sexist pig." She curses in low volume.

The man still hears it. "Oh, look, we have a feminist over here!"

She simply rolls her eyes and gets on her fighting stance. "Talk less and fight more."

The crowd goes wild. "Oooooohhh!" _(*turn down for what*)_

The man frowns angrily, just like she had done seconds ago, and gets into his own fighting stance. "Let's see if you're good."

One of the organizers scream to the woman. "Hey, does the smart talker have a name?!"

She answers loud enough for him to hear from far away. "Josie."

"Encantado de conocerte, Josie." Her oponent says mockingly. "Yo soy Miguel, a su disposición." He chuckles.

They circle each other slowly. Miguel is wearing a White button shirt and black leather pants and shoes. _That leather might work on my side_ , she thinks. _His size, however, is going to be a problem_. Saying Miguel is ginormous in an understatement. He is around 2 meters tall and very muscular. But she is also quite tall herself, having 180 cm of height. His hair is black and slightly long, and very messy. He also has a black mustache.

Miguel makes the first move. He punches Josie with his left hand, then spins and hits her with his right fist, and spins once more lifting his right leg in the hair to kick her in the face, making the Up-stroke. She gets hit by the punches, but she ducks down before the kick comes. However, she crouches while spinning, stretching her left leg. She hits him on his feet, and then she raises and hits him in the stomach with her right palm. Angry, Miguel makes a Martillo doble, a move which consists simply of putting his hands together and brings them down on her head with all his strength, and then he raises them to hit her chin. The move sends her rotating in the air.

"Fall less and fight more." He says, imitating her phrase. The crowd goes nuts.

She quickly gets up and resumes her fighting stance. She proceeds to punch him with her left hand, then the right one, followed by a right leg kick on his calves as she spins and then another kick with her right leg, this time hitting him on the face and sending him rotating in the air just like he did with her moments ago. She smirks as he gets up.

The fight keeps going on for some long minutes. The usual crowd of this alley has never been more entertained. Josie's confidence grows every time the people cheer for her. Miguel, however, couldn't be more pissed off. This is the first challenger who actually manages to give him some work.

With her ego on top, she decides to take a more risky move. If it works, however, he's going to be beat up real bad. "Get ready to fly!" She screams, showing off, as she starts it. She takes impulse from the ground and jumps, raising her right hand, lifting him up with the hit. She touches the ground only to jump again, and hits him with the right leg, then spinning and kicking him with the left one. Before both of them fall, she brings her hands together and brings it down on him with all her strength. The impact makes Miguel bounce on the ground and fall backwards.

He struggles to get up. As he does so, he nods to her with an angry and frustrated expression and leaves. The crowd goes wilder than ever before. "Josie! Josie! Josie!" _I won!_ , She thinks happily.

The organizers give her the money, and the crowd starts to spread away. She counts the money and puts it on her back pockets and leave as well, following some people.

 _This will be of much help right now_. She smiles.

* * *

 _[Day 3]_

 _Wednesday, 03:12 UTC (12:12 in local time)  
Seoul, South Korea_

Hwoarang leaves the taxi, pissed off. _I can't believe I waited Master for hours on that stupid airport._ His brown boots are stomping in the sidewalk as he thinks of every swear-word he knows in Korean and in English. His blue jeans tremble by each step. His dark grey T-shirt is exposed as his black leather jacket flies on the wind, just as his orange hair.

When he reaches the dojo, his rage is replaced by confusion. It is closed. He frowns. It should've been opened since early in the morning. He forces the door until it opens. His jaw drops at what he sees. Everything inside is overturned, and Baek is unconscious and tied with rope in a column.

Hwoarang leaves his bags on the ground and starts running through the building. "Where are you?! Where are you, _bastard?!_ " He screams at the top of his lungs, to no avail.

He goes back to the main room, where Baek seems to be waking up. "Master!" He runs to him and starts to undo the knots of the rope. "Are you okay Master? What happened?!"

Baek simply moans in pain, and Hwoarang carries him by holding him under the arms and takes him to his bedroom. Laying his Master on his bed, he sees that he is injured. There seem to have a few burns and also two deep cuts.

Hwoarang runs to the telephone, calling the hospital. And then, calls the police.

 _The police better find out who is the person that needs to have the ass kicked by me._

* * *

 _[Day 3]_

 _Wednesday, 13:00 UTC (10:00 in local time)  
São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brasil_

Kazuya is standing behind the chair of the end of a conference table. He wears medium grey pants and waistcoat over a burgundy necktie and black formal shoes. His dark grey leather coat goes until his feet.

 _Power is everything._

He hears an automatic ding sound, and the door opens. His guest has arrived. The woman is wearing something more formal than what she would usually wear, but that's because this is technically a business meeting. She is wearing a light beige dress, made of silk under a transparent organza fabric with jaguar print. It is long-sleeved and goes until her knees. The skirt of it is somewhere between tight and loose, but the sleeves are completely loosen. She also wears dark brown flat shoes. Her hair has a single braid falling over her right shoulder, accompanied by a single brown feather earring on her right ear, while the left wear is free.

She nods once to Kazuya, and sits on the chair of the other end of the table as he takes his own seat as well.

"Julia." He says in his usual emotionless voice, his grim is intact as always. "This is a secret mission, therefore I can't tell you any specific details until you formally accept it." He makes a pause of a second, then continues. "All I can tell you is that it won't be any laboratory work. Actually, it deals with your knowledge of archeology." Julia is surprised to hear that, but hides her emotions. "And it is obvious that you'll have a generous payment."

This is rather unusual. Julia doesn't know what to think of this. She takes her eyes out of Kazuya, and faces the wall, keeping her serious expression as to show him no weakness, no fear. _What could this possibly be?_ , she thinks. _Anyway, what if I refuse it? I mean, do I actually have the right to refuse it?_

As if he had read her mind, he speaks. "I spared your life. Don't make me regret my decision." _I guess that answers it_ , she thinks and mentally sighs (if that's even possible).

"I accept it." As she says this, he takes an envelope out of nowhere and pushes it over the table. The paper travels through it and stops in front of her.

"There are all the details regarding this mission." He says, looking intently at her.

She opens it delicately and starts reading the information inside it. There isn't that much information in there either, because the mission is quite simple. According to the documents, a tribe of indigenous people located somewhere in the Brazilian Amazon has a hidden treasure, although it is unknown what exactly it is – reportedly, it is some sort of valuable jewel. The mission is basically to investigate about it and locate the treasure, eventually taking it, using the civil war of the area as an advantage.

She slightly widens her eyes, terrified. He wants to do to those people exactly what he did to her people years ago. Kazuya smirks as he sees her expression. He knew she would exactly think of that. Not that he blames her, though. It is something of his nature – so much, that he is planning to do it again. _Not that I care, though_ , he thinks as the smirk goes away. _Those thoughts should distract her enough of wondering about my real intentions._

Now, there is no turning back. She has to do it. "Who else is going?" She asks, taking her eyes out of the papers and facing him.

"The place is considered a war field, therefore we will be accompanied by my troops." He says matter-of-factly.

"We?" She says. "You are going?"

"Yes. I will personally assist the mission."

She frowns, but doesn't know what to think of the fact that he's going, so she sticks to her other questions. "Who else will know about the mission, specifically?"

Kazuya is slightly annoyed by the questions, but keeps it in his mind and answers in his usual monotone voice and serious expression. "Two of G Corporation's best researches, chosen by me, who will work under your orders."

 _This is definitely very secret_ , she reflects. _I mean, only two? And also, it can't be something that hard to find – if it was, probably more people were going_.

"When are we leaving?" She continues the questioning.

"Tonight." He answers. "Someone will be on your room early in the evening to accompany you to the airport." She was staying in one of the building's rooms, since she has no place of her own in Brasil.

"How long will it last?"

"As long as it is necessary." Tired of the questions, he speaks. "This is all."

Julia gets the cue and stands, leaving the papers on the table. "Be ready." He says. She simply bows as quickly as she can and leaves the room. As she does, a servant enters and takes the papers to burn them in an incinerator, leaving rapidly.

 _Little does she know what awaits._ He smirks. _And the less she knows, the better it is._ He stands. _The lack of knowledge about it will be her fuel to do it._ He leaves the room. _If she finds out, she will know that it is much worse than stealing a simple tribe treasure._ He stomps through the corridors.

 _Power is everything._

* * *

 _[Day 3]_

 _Wednesday, 18:32 UTC (22:32 in local time)  
Dubai, United Arab Emirates_

 _This has got to be the worst gala ever_ , Lili curses on her mind. Emilie de Rochefort, shortened as Lili, is the spoiled blondie Monegasque who's considered the ' _Princess of Monaco's Oil Empire_ ', a title much of her dislike. She didn't want to be known as Albert de Rochefort's daughter. But that's not because she doesn't like her father, – she loves him deeply – but rather because she wanted to be known as ' _Lili, the Queen of Iron Fist_ '. She was a very skilled fighter, but failed to win the fifth and sixth Tekken tournaments she took part in. However, her efforts were not in vain, since she was able to help Lars Alexandersson by giving him an SUV, so he could easily relocate himself while in the quest of stopping Jin Kazama. She presumes Lars has succeeded, since the Mishima Zaibatsu mysteriously took itself out of the many conflicts they created in first place.

Thanks to the current absence of the Zaibatsu on World War III, the many conflicts either seized or worsened. In South America, as an example, many civil wars followed the Mishima Zaibatsu's retreat. In the Arabian Peninsula, as another example, the war ended once that the Arab world realized they had the same intentions: striking the Zaibatsu and widespread Islam domination of the rest of the world. Because of that, tonight's gala is being held in Dubai to celebrate the Arab union after the inner war, as they make military alliances to take part in the outer war, targeting mainly the Zaibatsu, but also another nations.

Lili, however, couldn't despise more this gala. It was just a reunion of many hypocrites who claim to be better than the enemy when, in reality, they're being just the same. She just wanted the world war to cease, and that's all.

Lili is wearing the most unusual combination of clothes and hairstyle. She would usually always be wearing daring clothes and let her hair down. Instead, tonight she is wearing a simple, yet sophisticated hair bun and a white minimalistic long dress. The vest leaves her arms exposed, but a piece of fabric crosses her torso from one shoulder to another in the horizontal. Then, vertically emerging from the center of that said fabric, precisely under her neck, another piece of fabric covers her whole chest. Just below her breasts, another piece of fabric crosses her waist in the horizontal, giving her a majestic and simplistic feminine figure. Two long floating parts coming from the fabric of the neck fall through her arms freely, accompanying the fluctuating floor-length skirt of the dress. She has silver high heels on, besides silver earrings and rings. This is definitely the most covering vest she has ever wore, which she bought specially for this occasion, since wearing skimpy clothes in the Arab world is not one of the brightest ideas, even if UAE is more easygoing about it.

She carried no purse since her butler, Sebastian, is there to assist her. He is wearing his usual black tuxedo and transparent glasses. He is standing by her side on a far and isolated corner of the ballroom, where she is sitting at a table, watching the guests from distance. She sighs as she sips some fresh and cold water.

Finishing her glass, she leaves it on the table and gets up. Deciding that she has had enough of sitting around, she is determined to walk around the salon, or maybe even chit chat with someone, even though striking a conversation with the people here was quite hard. She doesn't even say a word to Sebastian as she leaves – he simply calls a waiter who was passing by to pick up the empty glass and then promptly follows her.

Lili eyes the ballroom cautiously as she walks slowly. She doesn't know any of the guests, although she knows that some of the most influent and dangerous people are present. Members of Islam extremist groups, politicians of Arab nations and company executives of many nationalities who have business in the Arabian Peninsula. Besides that, she might want to avoid talking to a man, since that is something women can't really do. The problem is that she is one of the few women in the gala. That leads to almost no options, which makes her remember why she had isolated herself in the corner in first place. When she was almost turning back to sit again, she spotted a man in a beige suit discretely waving for her to go there. It's her father. She sighs slightly and walks to his direction.

He extended out his left arm and hugged Lili from the side as he spoke. "Your Majesty, this my daughter, Emilie de Rochefort." He said, smiling widely and sincerely. Although the usual norm of formal events is giving that usual fake small smile, Albert naturally does that whenever he mentions her.

Lili bowed politely for the man, who bowed back as he said. "I am King Abahat Khalifa, of Saudi Arabia." Lili was relieved that he cared to introduce himself, because she had no idea of who he was. "And this is my most loyal guard, Shaheen Iman." The King continued, pointing with his head to a man in his right. Lili and Shaheen bowed to each other.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." Lili said, already looking to Abahat, giving that usual polite smile of formal meetings. He slightly smiled back to her and kept talking to her father, which she only pretended to be listening.

She kills her time to curiously analyze the men and their clothes. King Abahat has black eyes and a black chinstrap beard, while his hair is hidden by the white shemagh he wears on his head, fixed by a black agal. He is wearing a dark brown thobe and dark grey pants with black shoes. He is probably in his late 60s.

Shaheen has dark brown eyes and a dark brown short boxed-styled thick beard. His hair and head are adorned by a long red and white checkered shemagh and a black agal. He is wearing an off-white military uniform with a black belt was tucked into his uniform, in which he carries a scimitar (a sabre with a curved blade), accompanied by greyish blue military pants and dark grey boots. He is most likely in his mid to late 20s. She makes a mental note that he is catching a glimpse of her way too often.

Suddenly, the band stops playing, all its members looking to the front door. The guests who were close to the entrance had already done the same thing, eyeing the last guest to arrive. The others stopped talking and looked around to try to understand what the matter was, and all eyes eventually locked on the entrance.

The silence was deafening. The muteness was louder than the noise of the conversations and the music that was still going on just seconds ago. If a sewing needle was dropped right now, everybody would hear it clearly. A tense mix of surprise, fear and respect was in the air. All eyes looked him up and down, as the man was just a hallucination or a hologram. Those gazes could have easily cut him in a million pieces. But no one could ever cut that man.

The man is in his mid-70s, as his spiky light grey hair and thick white beard and eyebrows show, together with the many wrinkles on his face. He is visibly amused, smirking slightly. He is dressed in white formal shoes, pants and a traditional waistcoat, the latter over a dark blue necktie. His coat is quite exotic, baring a brown tiger print.

"There is no need to stop the beautiful music that was playing." He says looking to the stage. His deep and raspy voice breaks the silence, echoing through the ballroom. "Neither your conversations, gentlemen." He finishes, eyes traveling rapidly through the faces of the salon. The small smirk doesn't leave his face not for a second even.

The band reluctantly starts playing again, and the guests slowly resume their conversations, although everybody keeps looking to him from the corner of their eyes. The old man slowly walks inside, accompanied by two bodyguards in simple black suits. Not that he actually needs bodyguards, anyway – he can easily defend himself. But prevention is always better than cure, besides the fact that it adds up to his image of an important person. He politely refuses the champagne a waiter offers him as he keeps walking through the crowd.

"Mr. Rochefort." The old man says as he stops behind Albert, who turns in the sound of his name.

"Mr. Mishima." Albert answers, giving a polite smile and bow.

"Thank you inviting me to this wonderful event." He answers with a bow and no smile. It is very clear to Lili that the men couldn't care less about the party.

"Let me introduce you to my dear daughter, Emilie de Rochefort. You've probably already heard of her." Albert answers as he raises his hand in the direction of Lili, who hasn't taken her eyes off the old man now in front of her. Once again, Albert gives a genuine smile, although this time it's clear to Lili that her father is controlling himself a bit in the presence of the old man, since his smile wasn't as large as usual.

"Yes, I've already heard of her." His answer sounds sincere, although it's clear to Lili that he couldn't care less about her either. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rochefort." He bows politely. "I'm Heihachi Mishima. I presume you've already heard of me." He smirks faintly, in an almost undetectable ironic tone, which doesn't go unnoticed by Lili.

"Yes, I have." She answers in a monotone voice as she bows back. "It is also a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mishima." She smiles politely, as an intention to show superiority and that she doesn't fear him.

Heihachi seems to notice that, as he turns to Albert and speak. "You have a lovely daughter, Mr. Rochefort. You must be proud." His tone sounded sincere once again, which slightly confuses Lili, although she doesn't show it and keeps her gaze on the man and a serious expression on her face.

"Yes, I am." Albert says, controlling his smile again. It kills Lili inside that her father is still proud of her even when she took part on the Tekken tournaments, and openly says it to no other person than Heihachi Mishima, the one who created the competition. Once again, however, she doesn't show it. Sebastian, who's not that far away, seems to feel the same thing, as he is wearing a sad expression, which Lili notices from the corner of her eye. She chooses to ignore it for now and talk to Sebastian in a better time, as now she is concentrated in the most important conversation of the night.

"And this is Your Majesty King Abahat Khalifa, of Saudi Arabia." Albert continues, turning to The King.

Abahat bows vehemently and answers in a serious tone. "It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mishima."

"It is an equal honor, Your Majesty." Heihachi answers in a monotone voice, bowing shortly. Lili tries to read him, but he is emotionless this time. She concludes that Heihachi probably despise the man just as much he despises everybody, but he most likely knows that the man holds importance, influence and power.

"I believe this might be the moment to discuss business in a more reserved place." Albert says. Lili imagined such thing would happen in some moment of the gala, so she's not a bit surprised. So far, she had been wondering why it hadn't happened yet, but now that Heihachi is here, she knows the reason was him.

"I couldn't agree more." Heihachi says, sounding inclined to it.

"Would you please follow me, gentlemen?" Albert says, signaling with his hand to some random direction as to emphasize his speech. Heihachi raises his hands to his bodyguards as who tells them not to follow him, and the King Abahat does the same thing to Shaheen.

Lili is left alone with Shaheen and the two bodyguards. She is more than disinterested in their company. "If you excuse me, gentlemen, I am going to the bar." She bows quickly and leaves just as fast. Sebastian follows her, but keeps a polite distance.

She sits on a stool in the middle, and orders a glass of water. Since she is still not 18, she can't drink alcohol, although she doesn't really care. Sebastian is observing her from the far left side of the bar counter, and she nods to him to acknowledge his position as she sips from her glass.

As she puts the glass back on the bar counter, she's surprised to see Shaheen sitting on her right side. She frowns slightly. "Might I help you, Mr. Iman?"

"You can call me only Shaheen. I prefer it." He answers. "I wish to talk to you."

She frowns again. _What could he possibly want to talk to me?_ , she wonders. "And you can call me only Lili." She copies his statement. "That's how I prefer people to address to me."

He smiles faintly, but it looks sincere rather than polite and fake. "Ms. Lili, I want to talk you." He makes a pause. Before she says ' _You've already said that_ ', he speaks again. "I imagine that you dislike this world war. Are my assumptions correct?"

She frowns for the millionth time. _What kind of question is that?_ It is true that she dislikes the war, but saying that to this man seems rather compromising. After all, he is King Abahat's personal guard. With all that in mind, she quickly answers. "I prefer peace, although I recognize the noble intentions behind the conflict." _In other words, I'm neutral about it_ , she continues on her mind. _Neutral for you, of course_.

"I understand." Shaheen answers in a genuine tone that indicates he comprehends why she needs to be neutral for him. "I think just like you. And that's why I wish to talk to you."

She frowns for, like, the zillionth time. "How could I help you?"

"I know that you are a fighter, and that you have participated in the Zaibatsu's tournaments." He says matter-of-factly.

"Yes, that is true." She answers in a bored tone, as if the tournaments are just trivial to her. Of course they are important, but she keeps the act.

"I would like to ask your… _discretion_ about this conversation, before I continue." Shaheen says.

Before Lili frowns for the zillionth first time, she realizes where this conversation might be heading to. "That's not something you need to ask." She smiles faintly.

Shaheen genuinely smiles a small smile back. "I think it is very clear which is going to be everybody's decision tonight." _Of course it its. More war._ "And it seems my assumptions were indeed right, since you want it all to stop as much I do." He gives her a knowing and discreet wink. She smiles to him, this time a bit wider. "I would like to ask you to help me stop it."

The world around seems to stop after this statement. Shaheen is relieved that he has managed to spit it out once and for all. Lili is, somehow, happy that he thinks she can help on the matter, but she simply doesn't know how to do such thing.

"What could I do?" Lili asks, and she really wants to know. "What… could we do?" She reluctantly continues, in a shy tone, her Monegasque accent even more evident.

"Sincerely, I don't really know." He says in a defeated tone, and sighs slightly, shyly looking to the ground for a second. "What I know is that something needs to be done, regardless of what it might be." He says determined, facing her again. "All I want is your support when the time comes."

Lili reflects for a second, looking deeply in the man's eyes. Can she _really_ trust him? This is very sudden. She simply doesn't know what to do about this. "I thought you were loyal to King Abahat." She says, imitating the King's words.

For a second, there is a very quick sad flicker in Shaheen's eyes, which is replaced by the emotionless gaze of before. He then answers. "I am. But that doesn't mean I agree with his actions."

In the vein. Lili feels the same about her father. She knows he loves her regardless, but that doesn't mean he agrees with her fighting. Even when it came necessary in the sixth tournament, as an attempt to recover the Rochefort Enterprises from the Zaibatsu. It is a constant dormant sadness hidden in her heart. She can't choose between her two halves. Shaheen, however, seems to have made his decision about his own two halves a long time ago.

Shaheen percepts the same flicker of sadness on her eyes, but doesn't really understand why. He keeps himself silent, waiting patiently for her answer.

Lili starts questioning herself and all her actions so fair. _My father loves me for who I am. That is for sure. But I am a fighter, and he needs to accept that. And so do I. I keep pushing it away as much as I can, against my own will, because of him. It doesn't fully stop me, however; it just keeps me out of focus. It's about time I embrace it fully._ She also ponders about Shaheen's words. _He is clearly inclined to betrayal the ones above him if that is necessary to do what feels right._ Her gaze turns to a determined one. _And so am I._

"You can count on me, Shaheen."

 **…**

Meanwhile, the upper crust of some of the most important men in the world are inside a meeting room, some corridors away from the ballroom they were once before. If the guests of the gala are members of Islam extremist groups, politicians of Arab nations and company executives, the people inside this room right now are the leaders of said Islam extremist groups, the heads of state of Arab nations and the company owners.

There are about 30 men disposed through black leather chairs with casters around a rectangular dark brown wooden table. Conveniently, there are nameplates in front of everybody, informing their names and their titles. The floor is of chocolate marble and the windows are covered with white fancy curtains, although it doesn't make any practical difference since it is currently nighttime. There is only one door, and beside it a relatively small table against the wall, made of the same material of the main table. There is a large tray with coffee, tea, sugar and sweetener, besides some tea-cups, one for each person in the room. There is also a slide projector suspended just above the center of the table, by a metal structure coming from the ceiling. This is the biggest conference room of the Rochefort Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The owner of the resort, Albert de Rochefort, is sitting in the end of the table, with the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of UAE by his left and the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of UAE by his right, as can be read on the nameplates. They are the three the hosts of the event. On the far other side, Heihachi Mishima is sitting in the other end of the table. He is considered pretty much tonight's guest of honor.

Everybody is on their seat, but talking low. Albert simply stands up and call them. "Gentlemen. Shall we begin?" As they silence themselves, he continues. "Thank you for your presence." He then sits down and nods to the president of UAE.

The president then proceeds to talk about the UAE's intentions and resources for the war, and every country leader follows suit, one by one. Then, the terrorist leaders and company owners do the same thing.

The conversation doesn't last long, since everybody had already been prepared for this occasion, and also because their intentions are the same. They proceed to sign the Treaty of Dubai, which politically establishes the peace between the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, which had already been ceased on the fields. A commitment to financially and militarily support another Arab nations around the world is also made, focusing on North Africa and Southeast Asia. The main focus, however, is to attack the Mishima Estate aiming a coup d'état on the current leader, Jin Kazama, to give the position back to Heihachi Mishima, who had been very generous to the Arab world during his previous leaderships.

One by one, the men leave the room, going back to the gala that is still ongoing. Heihachi is the last to leave and as he walks, he smirks.

 _The Mishima Zaibatsu is mine._

* * *

 _[Day 3]_

 _Wednesday, 13:00 UTC (07:00 in local time)  
Somewhere in Mississippi, United States Of America_

Lars is wearing a dark blue suit over a white button shirt. A servant, the same one who served him breakfast earlier, had knocked not long ago to serve him lunch. On the tray, there was an envelope written by Raven, stating that he would be there at 14:00 to get the three guests to the observation room they were yesterday.

It is almost time, so Lars is simply waiting, his thoughts far away. He is sitting on his bed. The room is very small and simple – after all, this is a military building – so there isn't much luxury. The bed is made of silver metal, just like all the other furniture of the building. By the window, there is a desk and a chair, with his black bag on the floor besides them. There is also a white door leading to a private bathroom. The bathroom is very simple as well – besides the silver faucets of the shower and the sink, everything is white.

Lars feels a vibration on his chest, coming from his cellphone. He gets it from the pocket of his shirt under the coat and answers. "Hello?"

"Hello, Lars. It's me, Lee." The voice says.

"Lee. How are you?"

"I'm good. And you?" He sounds quite bored for having to keep up with the polite blabbering, which doesn't go unnoticed by Lars.

"Good too." Lars answers. "What is the reason that gives me the pleasure of your call?" He asks, in a subtle joking tone.

Lee laughs slightly. "Something that might be of your interest." He makes a pause. "Is this a secure line?" He asks, now in a serious tone.

"Of course it is." Lars answers in a business-like voice.

"Good." Lee says. "You remember that Kazuya was going to move G Corporation's headquarters, right?"

"Yes, I remember that you mentioned it."

"Well, it is done. It has been moved to São Paulo." Lars frowns as he hears that. "I don't know exactly why São Paulo, don't even ask me." Lee says like he had read Lars' mind, using a defensive tone.

"Interesting." It is all that Lars is able to answer.

"And… this might be the perfect moment to take action." Lee says in a suggestive tone.

"I see. It might be, indeed." Lars agrees with Lee's statement in an automatic tone as he is deep in thought.

"I still need to talk to Julia." Lee says after a brief moment of silence. "Her help is essential, of course." He makes a pause. "We might not have another chance like this."

"I know, I know." Lars answers, sighing. "Are you free to talk later? I have an important appointment to attend now."

"Sure." Lee answers. "I have to hang up now as well. I will be waiting for your call. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Lars puts the cellphone back on his pocket, and hears a soft knock on the door. He stands up and opens it to see Nina, Alisa and Raven standing outside.

Nina is dressed on combat clothes of a similar fashion of the ones she wore yesterday, the only difference being the color. Instead of pale purple, it is a simple grey. Raven is wearing the exact same black leather strapless shirt, pants and boots of yesterday. Alisa is wearing a strap dress of round skirt just like yesterday, but this time it is plain black. She has the same black leather shoelace boots on, although today she is wearing no stockings. There is a pair of white velvet gloves on her hands, going until her wrists. Yesterday's earrings are gone, but not the flowers – she has a red chrysanthemum on her hair.

"Let's go." Lars says, and everybody follows Raven.

After many corridors, they get in the same observation room they were yesterday. Robyn, once again, was already there, and nodded in their direction. Everybody sits on the same places of yesterday as well: Robyn on the far left, Raven by her right; Lars on the center, Alisa by his right and Nina by Alisa's right. The procedure is also the same: from the glass, they watch Anthony examine Jin.

After a few minutes, the doctor leaves Jin alone and goes to the corridor. He knocks on the door of the observation room before he enters. "Good afternoon." He says in a happy voice.

Lars nods to Raven, who stands up. "I will be the one talking to Jin today."

The doctor blinks. "Sure." It is all that he says. This time, he leaves the room first, followed by Raven.

"Today's visitor is here, Jin." Anthony says in a happy voice.

As Raven gets in, Jin's expressionless face goes to a cold and serious look.

"Hello, Jin." Raven says as he sits on a chair by Jin's right side. Jin doesn't say a word. "I'll go straight to the point, alright? I have some questions to make you." Raven continues.

"I want to talk to Lars." Jin ignores Raven's statement. His voice sounds as determined and cold as it usually does. Raven frowns, and there is a tense moment of silence between them.

"Sure." Raven says, reluctantly. However, he doesn't leave the room. He simply gets up and walks to Anthony's direction, standing by the doctor's side. Lars, who heard the cue in the observation room, is now entering the chamber. He sits on the same chair Raven was just seconds ago.

There is another tense moment of silence, which is broken by Jin. "Lars."

"Jin." Lars answers in the same cold tone.

"Tell me about the war." There is no hint of emotion on Jin's grim as he says this.

There is a reluctant moment of silence coming from Lars before he answers. "I have taken the Zaibatsu out of the war." He makes a pause. "Few conflicts ceased. Most are still ongoing."

There is a very quick flicker of guilt on Jin's eyes before it is replaced by the grim again. "How is the situation?" Jin asks in a business voice.

"Bad." Lars answers in a sincere tone.

"Tell me more about it." Jin asks after a second of silence.

There is another second of silence before Lars answers. "The countries of south of Africa, Europe, Oceania, Central America and East Asia are all rebuilding their countries. Their wars have all ceased." He makes a pause. "The north of South America is currently on war, so is North America, Southeast Asia and the North of Africa."

"Talk to me about those." Jin demands.

Lars keeps himself silent. He doesn't feel like telling Jin about the war is a good idea. Bothering him about such thing in the current situation might not be good to his health. Feeling such a guilt right now is not going to be helpful. However, what can he do?

"Lars." Jin says in an even more severe tone. "Tell me."

From the corner of his eye, Lars looks to Anthony and Raven. Both nod. Lars releases a half-suffocated sigh before he answers. "Southeast Asia and the North of Africa are both at war because of the Muslims." This is very self-explaining, so Lars keeps it short. "North America is at war because of Mexico – the drug cartels are trying to take over the government. There is also a good amount of intervention coming from the USA, as usual, although most of the conflicts are happening in the south of the Mexican territory." He makes a pause before continuing. "Some sort of civil war is ongoing in the Amazon. The many indigenous tribes are fighting over land. There is no interference coming from the national governments of the countries involved. It is simply the natives. It may sound like nothing, but the situation is very bad there. The forest turned into a violent war field."

There is another flicker of guilt on Jin's eyes, which he replaces by his typical grim. "I presume people have not forgotten of us." He says coldly.

Lars gets the cue, and speaks. "Japan supports us, but only because the Mishima State is only accessible through their territory. To protect us is to protect themselves." He says. "Most of the other countries are neutral, focusing on their own matters, either reconstruction or war. The Arab world, however, is very instable." Lars limits to say only this. 'Instable' is a word of very clear meaning in this context.

Jin seems satisfied by the answers, as he turns his head to gaze the door on the far side of the room and he relaxes his posture. His grim, however, is intact.

"My intentions were noble." Jin says, still serious, still facing the door. "I do not regret my actions, yet I take full responsibility." He finishes, now looking directly to Raven. His stare could've made Raven's sunglasses explode in a million pieces.

Raven simply nods. Jin doesn't understand why exactly, so he decides to leave the subject behind and turns to face Lars. Lars looks intently at Jin. What happens next, however, takes Lars completely aback, in a way he has never experienced before.

"You're my uncle, right?" Jin asks in a monotone voice. His grim is gone, and he is now expressionless, just like he was when he talked to Alisa yesterday, and just like he was before Raven entered the room.

Lars frowns slightly and controls himself not to widen his eyes, an expression that is soon replaced by a very faint and sympathetic smile. "Technically, half-uncle."

Jin smiles back the same faint smile. The smile leaves, the space being occupied by another emotionless question. "How is Alisa doing?"

Lars is surprised, but after the surprise of the other question, this one feels rather normal. He takes the cue of Jin's question and answers. "Very good, actually." He smiles faintly at thinking about Alisa. He is happy she has been able to recover.

Jin seems to notice this, and he faintly smiles back and nods, as if it was some sign of approval. "What about Nina?" Jin asks, frowning very slightly. "Is she still working for… _uh…_ us?" His ' _uh_ ' this time was shorter, and rather of indecision than actual mental tiredness. The doctor is quite impressed by that, and writes it down. Jin is recovering very fast.

"Yes, she is. Her job is to protect you and you're still technically the CEO." Lars answers matter-of-factly.

Jin simply nods and turns his gaze to the door again. He is quite thoughtful. All of a sudden, he turns to face Raven, and his face is somewhere between emotionless and severe. "Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

"No, there isn't." It is all that Raven says.

"When am I leaving?" Jin asks, eyeing both Raven and Anthony.

Raven keeps himself silent and turns his head to the doctor. Lars does the same. Anthony seems nervous that all eyes are on him, and he reluctantly answers. "Maybe two or three days, to ensure that you're stable." Everybody knows what he means by 'being stable' – being human, and not a Devil. "The rest of your recovery can be done anywhere, either here or somewhere else, since it consists only of nutrition, maybe some physiotherapy." Anthony says, and looks to Raven, who nods back. Both now look to Jin, nodding to them. He then turns to Lars.

"I will be glad to have you back." Lars says, smiling faintly. The smile is returned by Jin.

Lars then gets up. "I think we're finished." Everyone nods for, like, the zillionth time. "It was good to see you, nephew." He smiles again, which is returned by Jin again. The three men then leave the room, following Raven.

Raven simply stops in the corridor. At the same time Lars and Anthony leave the medical room, Robyn leaves the observation room followed by Nina and Alisa. Robyn simply nods to Anthony, and he leaves by the left side. "Follow me." Robyn says, and everybody goes after her on the right side.

They go through some corridors, but this time taking a different turn. They eventually enter a white door, just like all the others. Inside, there is some kind of meeting room. There is a rectangular glass conference table supported by two slender pieces of grey granite that work as the table feet. Surrounding it, there is a total of 10 metal chairs, although this time they have casters. The floor is as white as the corridors, but instead of grey walls, this time they're also white. There is also a large rectangular window, the sunlight coming from outside illuminating the room.

"Sit as you wish." Robyn says and takes a seat at the end of the table. Raven takes a seat across the room, by her left. Lars sits with his back facing the door, by the right side of Robyn and facing Raven. As usual, Alisa sits besides Lars, and Nina takes a seat in the most distant chair, by Alisa's right.

"As I presume Raven has already discussed with you," Robyn says, facing Lars. "the agency is willing not to arrest Jin Kazama in case he agrees to align with us."

"Yes, he has said that." He speaks matter-of-factly. "I don't see why he wouldn't cooperate. At least from me, you can have the confirmation we are going to help." Lars then turns his head to the right, as to show that with 'we' he means Nina and Alisa. Both women nod silently as a confirmation.

"Good." Robyn says. "I speak for the agency when I say our intention is solely to finish the war, and to arrest Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima." Raven nods as to agree with her speech. "We need to act as soon as we can. With the instability of the war, we might not have another chance."

The last sentence clicks in Lars' mind. "About that, I think there are a few people who are inclined to help as well." He says.

Robyn makes a face of who is inclined to listen more about it. "Lee Chaolan and Julia Chang are fellow allies." Lars proceeds to say.

Nina frowns, which doesn't go unnoticed by Robyn. Alisa, however, speaks happily. "Yes. Lee has repaired my systems. And we've rescued Ms. Julia Chang for him, who is now also an acquaintance of ours."

"But it would be preferable to ask them first." Lars continues.

"I couldn't agree more." Robyn says.

"And I would dare to go as far as saying that Lei Wulong would be willing to help, although we're not close." Lars says.

"He is already helping, actually. Our agency is allied with the Interpol, and Mr. Wulong is their most qualified professional." Robyn says matter-of-factly. There is a brief pause. "Could you contact Mr. Chaolan and Ms. Chang now?"

"Yes, sure." Lars says as he gets his cellphone from his pocket. He puts Lee on the speakerphone as he calls.

"Hello again, Lars." Lee says.

"Hello, Lee. You're on speakerphone right now."

"Oh." Lee says in a casual manner.

"I'm here with Raven's superior and also partner. Her name is Robyn."

"Hello Mr. Chaolan." Robyn says.

"Hello. What is the reason that gives me the pleasure of your call?" Lee says, rephrasing Lars on the earlier call.

Lars laughs slightly, and lets Robyn answer. "Our objective is to stop the war and Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima. To do so, we have interest in an alliance with you."

"You can count me in." Lee says, inclined.

"We are also looking forward an alliance with Ms. Chang." She continues.

"I'm in." Julia says in the background.

"I guess that answers it." Lee says. "She's helping me with Combot."

"I see." Robyn says in a monotone voice.

"Lee." Lars says. "The opportunity, remember?"

Lee gets the cue. "Yes! Of course!" He says. "Do you guys have a laptop in there? So we can make a videoconference."

"Yes." Raven says, and gets up to get it.

After some minutes of arranging, everything is set up and the videoconference is started, with Lee and Julia talking from Violet Systems' office in São Paulo. Julia is wearing the same outfit of her meeting with Kazuya, and Lee is wearing a purple button shirt and black pants. They also put Lei Wulong on the call, who's in his home in Hong Kong.

* * *

 _[Day 3]_

 _Wednesday, 13:21 UTC (21:21 in local time)  
Hong Kong, China_

 _Well… here I am, Fragrant Harbour._ Leo thinks as she walks. She eventually stops by a coffeehouse, sitting on a wooden chair by a table. Her black bag is by her side, and she wears blue jeans, red sneakers and a white t-shirt.

"Can I take a seat?" A male voice asks.

Leo looks up to see an Asian man of black long hair, tied up in a ponytail. He has white shirt on, accompanied by brown pants with black suspenders. She also takes a glimpse of a gun and a police distinctive, so she feels like saying 'no' could be the wrong move.

As if he reads her mind, he speaks. "I am Lei Wulong, of Interpol." There is a pause. "Can I?" He asks again, pointing to the empty chair with his head.

Leo simply nods and Lei instantly takes a seat. "I said I would make my way to you, didn't I?" Lei says, and smirks.

Leo widens her eyes. "It was you?!" She scoffs. "No surprise you work for Interpol. I should've seen that coming." She sighs. "Wait. You actually look a bit familiar."

"I am a Tekken fighter." He says matter-of-factly. "Was it hard to find out what was Fragrant Harbour?" He asks.

Leo frowns at the subtle change of topic. "Uh, no, I mean, it was easier than I thought. That's just what 'Hong Kong' means in English." Lei smiles as an answer.

A waiter comes, and both ask for simple coffees. They wait for their order in silence. It doesn't take long until the waiter comes back with their drinks.

"So…" Leo starts speaking. Lei simply raises up his index finger as to say ' _just a moment_ ' as he finishes his coffee. Putting it back on the table, he eyes the moving crowd. Before Leo can ask anything, Lei gets up and walks away.

There is not even enough time for her to get mad, as she sees Lei greeting a tall blonde young man holding a brown bag and wearing a blue shirt with white pants and sneakers. As they come to her direction, she finishes her coffee.

"I would like you to meet my friend." Lei says, looking to Leo. "This is Steve Fox." He is now looking to Steve. "And Steve, this is Eleonor Kliesen."

She stands up. "Please, call me Leo." She says and shakes hands with Steve. Both are clearly confused of why they're meeting, but before they can ask anything, Lei speaks.

"What a coincidence your flights arrived just one after another." Lei says and smiles. "Now we can talk. But it better not to be here. Come on, let's get out of here. Let me help you guys with the bags."

The three of them leave the airport in silence. Lei takes them to his car. The rainy city outside feels more interesting than any conversation, so everybody is quiet through the ride. The white sky, grey buildings and water drops on the window are far more entertaining than anything else in the world. After about 20 minutes, they arrive at Lei's apartment. After the elevator leads them to the last habitable floor, they walk through a small corridor and stop over an entrance door, which leads them into the living room of Lei's place.

"I make it a point to host you." Lei says, and conducts them inside.

Lei then proceeds to show Leo and Steve their accommodations. They simply leave their bags on their rooms and head back to the living room, where everybody sits on the very dark blue couches.

"I know you both have no idea of why you're both here together." Lei says, and both Leo and Steve wear the same expression of ' _definitely not_ '. "Well, you guys looks anxious, so I'm going straight to the point." He continues. "I've told you both that I have information of your interest. They're probably not what you're looking for right now, but it's still something that you have the right to know." He makes a pause. "And, believe it or not, it concerns both of you."

Both Leo and Steve frown. "What do you mean?" Steve asks.

Lei sighs. "Well… this is quite complicated." He eyes the room as who's thinking of the correct words to use. "Please, let me speak first and then you talk, okay?" He doesn't wait for an answer, and starts telling them the information they've come here for. "Recently, doing the usual investigation stuff for Interpol, I've found some old files of the Mishima Zaibatsu that regard something called the Subject NT01."

Leo blinks, Steve gives a little shiver. Lei sighs again. _This is going to be hard_ , he thinks. "One of the scientists working behind it was Doctor Emma Kliesen." He says looking at Leo.

"Mother." She whispers, more to herself than to Lei.

"Yes." He says. "The Subject NT01 was the result of a genetic experiment coming from cryogenic sleep, led by Doctor Gepetto Bosconovitch." He makes a pause. "Putting it in simpler words, Subject NT01 was a boy originated from in vitro fertilization. As the kid grew up, he was treated pretty much like a lab rat." He turns to face Leo. "Your mother was the only one who treated him like a real kid, which eventually led to her dismissal. However, she managed to declare the boy dead at age 6, when in fact she had transferred him to an orphanage."

Leo smiles faintly, proud of her mother's actions. Lei turns his gaze to Steve. "That boy's mother… was Nina Williams."

Steve's eyes widen. There is a tense moment of silence, in which Leo simply frowns, since she doesn't understand what's going on, Steve is stiff and Lei looks concerned.

Steve is still in some sort of state of shock, but manages to speak. "So… all of those flashes… scenes that I thought were dreams… are actually… memories?" He talks, although more to himself. "I thought my earliest memories were of when I was 7… That's… That's crazy, man!" He says, mad and frustrated.

"What is going on?!" Leo asks.

Lei sighs. "Steve is Subject NT01."

Leo's jaw drops, and she looks to Steve. She doesn't even know what to say, or what to think. All she is able to do is look at him. Steve is facing the ground with a confused expression. Lei sighs for the millionth time.

Steve seems to have a realization, and turns to face Leo. Before Steve says anything, however, Leo puts her left hand on his shoulder and speaks. "I'm very happy that she helped you." Her tone is comforting, her face wears a sympathetic small smile. Leo then takes her hand off him and turns to Lei. "Mr. Wulong, thank you." She says, the faint smile still there.

Lei nods. "Nothing but my duty. And please, call me Lei only."

"Lei." Steve says in a moved voice. "Thank you." Both men nod to each other.

Lei hears a noise coming from his notebook, so he gets up to check it. "I will leave you guys alone for a moment." He walks over to his desk, sits on the chair and opens the laptop. There is a video call coming from The Agency. He frowns and answers, aiming to tell them that he is busy. However, when he sees the people who are on the other side, he is taken aback and keeps himself silent, letting them speak first.

"Hello, Mr. Wulong. I'm glad that you've answered." A female voice says.

"Hello, Robyn." Lei answers. "Hello to everybody else." He says and briefly eyes the people he sees on the screen: Raven and Lars are sitting on a table with Robyn, while Lee and Julia's image is coming from another camera.

"Can you talk right now?" Raven asks.

Lei briefly looks to Steve and Leo behind them. Steve is facing the floor, and Leo seems to be whispering him words of comfort. Lei frowns thoughtfully and turns back to the computer. He has already made his decision. "Yes, I can."

Robyn then proceeds to explain the situation. One by one, the other people in the call talk about their own details of the story. After some good minutes, Leo and Steve are sitting on another couch, so they can pay attention on the conversation, yet aren't shown on the camera. Lei is not oblivious of this, but he chooses to ignore them.

"I see that the more help we have, the better it is. Am I right?" Lei asks.

"Yes, of course." Lars says.

"Well, I'm glad to say we have another two allies." Lei says, and turns to face Steve and Leo. Both smile and get up, walking until they stop behind Lei. They stoop so they can be seen on the camera. "These are Steve Fox and Eleonor Kliesen. You've probably already heard of them."

"Yes, I've heard of them." Robyn says. "Both have participated of the Tekken tournaments, right?"

"Yes." Alisa says in her usual cheerily tone. "Mr. Fox has participated since the fourth, while Ms. Kliesen made her debut on the sixth tournament." Lars smiles faintly as he hears Alisa talk.

"That's true." Steve says in his thick accent. Leo simply nods.

"I guess we have a team then!" Lee says, and Julia claps her hands happily. Alisa follows suit.

The plans are now settled, so the call is finished. Lei spins the casters of his chair to face his guests. "Do you realize supporting the agency is technically supporting the Zaibatsu, right?" He asks in a concerned tone.

"But things are going to be done right this time." Leo says, and Steve nods in agreement. " _We_ are going to make things right."

 **End of Chapter Three**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** **YAASSS! Chapter 3!** 10000+ words **!** (Lili/Shaheen/Heihachi part  only had, like, 3.5k words.) This one was named after the film Sherlock Holmes 2, which is "The Game of Shadows". I think that name really matches the situations of this chapter.

Featuring new characters: Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi Mishima, Lei Wulong, Lili de Rochefort, Shaheen, Josie Rizal, Sebastian, Doctor B (mentioned), Doctor Emma Kliesen (mentioned) and Combot (mentioned).

I gave Lili's father a name (Albert) because I thought he deserved one :P. I chose Albert because it is French, yet very easy to be pronounced in English, just as Emilie.

There are a few Spanish words on Miguel and Josie's part, I hope you were able to understand it.  
Oh, and by the way, I was frustrated to see that Tekken's tallest woman has only 173 cm of height so I made Josie have 180 cm :P, although officially her height is left unknown.

And it's funny how Leo's and Steve's flights arrived almost at the same time, right? I mean, what a _*coincidence*_. **hehe**

Also, KING ABAHAT KHALIFA OF SAUDI ARABIA IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER. Please understand **this is a work of fiction** , therefore _none_ in here is made to insult anyone in anyway. And please, understand that my description of the Arab world here is not meant to be biased/offensive, the same applies to all the other mentioned nations/continents. (I even mentioned my own country as a place that is at war, so you know… just chill, ok? S2)  
 _(The thing is that people tend to forget before/during/after Tekken 6, there is a goddamn world war going on, and, well, it needs to be described somehow, right?)_

I'm still trying to figure it out how to bring out certain characters that haven't been mentioned yet. But that doesn't mean they're not going to be here! If your favorite hasn't appeared yet, you can be sure s/he will. I'm bringing out everybody. Suggestions are accepted.

And what about that Justice League formed by the guys from the Agency? Duuude, it's gon' be crazy. **lol  
** Well, thank you **very** much! See you next chapter. :P


	4. Important Calls and Inner Bawls

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter Four: Important Calls and Inner Bawls**

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 16:12 UTC [Wednesday] (01:12 in local time)  
Osaka, Japan_

The neon lights bath the wild dance floor as the loud music makes its way into everybody's mind, in a volume as loud as possible. The colored illumination, however, doesn't fill the room – it simply serves as a way to turn the moving shadows into moving colored blurs, while the overall is still quite dark. Each and every silhouette dancing is living life as there is no tomorrow. The individuals on the bar don't seem to be caring about the future as well, as they get drunk or flirty.

One certain boy, however, is worried about tomorrow. That is because he shouldn't even be here, actually. But he is. He needs to erase his mind at least for tonight. But it hasn't worked so far. He finishes his zillionth bottle of beer. He has already so many that he doesn't even know the amount. _The bill is probably going to be expensive_ , he thinks. But for one of the few times in his life, he is not worried about spending. There are another things that need his concern.

With that on mind, he asks for the bill and pays it. It was much cheaper than he thought, because he drank much less than he thought. He was probably too distracted with the problem in hand. _But, well, it was still worth trying to forget it_ , he thinks. He didn't even get changed: he is still wearing his brown boots, blue jeans, grey T-shirt and black leather jacket of yesterday. He leaves the club, his orange hair glowing in the moonlight.

Hwoarang starts to think about what Baek and the police said as he crosses the street. Baek described to the cops that "a redhead woman with a fox max attacked the dojo Tuesday night", in his own words. That was all he was able to say, though, and was directly taken to the hospital. Hwoarang heard from the cops that the mysterious woman had been attacking a few dojos in Japan, but that was the first case to happen in South Korea. However, it seemed she was back in Japan, because on that same Wednesday morning she had attacked a dojo in Osaka. Hearing this, he took the first flight to Osaka.

So here Hwoarang is, in Osaka, staying in a cheap hotel just across the club he was in. He walks up the stairs of the building, crosses the corridor and enters his room.

 _I better get some sleep. By the morning, I'm going to find out who that woman is_ , he thinks as he gets undressed.

He gets in the bed, under the comfortable white blankets, which cover his semi-nude body, as he is on his black boxers only. _(*this is for us, girls, lol*)_

 _There can be only one redhead bitch around here._

* * *

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 00:00 UTC (09:00 in local time)  
Osaka, Japan_

After reading on the newspaper that the dojo attacked by the red-haired woman was " _Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts_ ", Hwoarang scoffed. _I guess I'm about to face another Kazama_ , he thinks as he makes his way into the hospital someone named Asuka Kazama has reportedly been taken to. He is wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

He gets in the reception room of the hospital and stops by its desk. A non-Asian brunette woman turns to speak to him. "How may I help you?" She says in fluent Korean, although there is an accent.

 _This is going to be easier than I thought_. "Hey baby, I'm here to visit a friend, perhaps get your number." He smirks.

The woman smiles at him, visibly melting. "Who is the name of your friend?"

"Asuka Kazama." He answers, trying hard not to sound disgusted while saying 'Kazama'.

The receptionist makes a few clicks on the computer, before she speaks again. "She is on room 222. Just take that corridor," the woman points "and go up the stairs." She says, in a stupid seductive fake voice that annoys even Hwoarang.

"Thank you, babe." He smirks again, playing along, and leaves.

 **…**

Asuka has spent the night on the hospital. She feels quite good, besides a sprained ankle and many scratches and bruises. Her consolation is that her parents are well. She would never forgive herself if her father came back to the hospital. _Rather me than him_ , she thinks.

Asuka had fought the woman long enough for the cops to come. Her father had called the police as soon as she had hid inside. When the sirens came, the cat lady ran away, and Asuka fell unconscious from tiredness. After a couple of hours, she woke up in a hospital bed to see two cops standing beside her. She gave them her testimony, only for them to say they are still investigating who the cat lady is. She sighed in repressed anger as she heard that. She would then be visited by her parent, which made her relax. The doctor advised that it would be better if she stayed a bit longer in the hospital, so here she is.

She is wearing simple white T-shirt and shorts, the usual hospital clothing. The shorts go until half her thighs, and are a bit tight as not to show her undergarments, since her right foot is elevated for her ankle to heal faster. Her left arm has some bandages, and she is half-sitting half-laying in a relaxed position on the bed, with her back against the soft pillows. _I must be looking terrible_ , she thinks, but pays not much mind and keeps changing channels on television.

The room is relatively small, with a large window by Asuka's left, illuminating the room with the warm sun light, and the access door by the wall on her right. A 29" television is suspended by some sort of metal structure on the wall in front of her. The walls are of a very light yellow tone, and there are different types of hospital equipment on both sides of the bed, although most are turned off. There is a small white couch beside the door, which is for the visitors. The door itself and her bed are also white.

She hears the door open, and presuming it is the doctor, she keeps changing channels on the TV, trying to find something interesting. She hears the door close after some long seconds, and she still pays no mind about it.

Hwoarang is paralyzed. _I knew it was a girl, but I didn't expected her to be this hot_ , he thinks. He takes a good look on her elevated right leg. _I need to focus, I'm not here for this_ , he thinks as he shakes his head. Before he distracts himself again with her curves, he simply clears his throat to call her attention.

Asuka frowns, resting her right arm with the remote control on her belly and turns. Her frown doesn't leave when she sees a redhead guy.

"Who are you?" She asks in a harsh tone.

"Oh, calm down there, I'm just here to talk." He says in a casual tone, putting both his hands up, taking a step closer.

"You're here to finish the service, huh?" She asks in an angry tone.

Hwoarang frowns for a second, then he gets it. "Oh no, the hair is just a stupid coincidence." He says. "I'm here for the same reason you are here."

Asuka's frown is still there. "What do you mean?" She asks, confused.

Hwoarang can't stop a sigh. "My master's dojo was attacked by the same person who attacked your family dojo."

Asuka's expression goes softer, but she is still confused. "Why are you here?"

"I want to know about the woman, and then kick her ass." He says with a slightly angry expression.

Asuka smirks. "I guess you'll be happy to know I kicked her ass already."

Hwoarang raises an eyebrow, in an amused expression. "It doesn't look like."

Asuka narrows her eyes slightly. "If I said I did, it's because I did."

Hwoarang smirks, still amused. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

"So why isn't she in prison?"

Asuka sighs. "She ran away when she heard the sirens. I just didn't chase her because my ankle was already sprained." She says in a frustrated tone. "Stupid cops, did they really need to turn on the sirens?" She finishes, now angrily.

Hwoarang keeps himself silent for a second, amusedly analyzing the girl's face. Her skin is cream-like, and her short dark brown hair is like bittersweet chocolate. He shakes his head slightly and focuses on the topic at hand. "Do you know why she invaded the dojo?"

"I have no idea." Asuka says in a defeated tone. "She didn't say a word. I tried to make her, of course, but she was silent all along." There's a pause. "Not even when I hit her." She frowns slightly. "It was weird."

"Maybe you didn't hit her hard enough?" Hwoarang says mockingly.

"Tell that to the blood she spilled when I punched her face." Asuka answers in a sassy tone.

Hwoarang laughs slightly, amused. _She doesn't even seem like she's a Kazama_. And then it clicks him.

Before he's able to speak, however, she does. "What is your name again?" Asuka asks.

"Hwoarang." He answers uninterested, more concentrated on the following question. "You're a Kazama, right?"

"Yes. I'm Asuka Kazama." She says as if he doesn't know her name.

Hwoarang skips the pain of telling her he knows her name already, after all he wouldn't have been able to come here in first place if he didn't, and continues the conversation. "Are you related to that Kazama bastard?" He is not able to put it in better words.

Asuka sighs in an angry way. She knows who he's talking about. "I don't know. But he's bringing shame to the Kazama name."

"Wait, so you don't like him?" Hwoarang asks, frowning slightly.

"Why should I?"

"I thought he was of your family."

"I don't care! I don't even know him! All I know is that I'm going to kick his ass when I get the chance!" She answers angrily, in a bit louder volume.

Hwoarang smirks. _I like her already_.

"Do you know him?" Asuka asks.

Hwoarang wasn't expecting the question, so he frowns slightly before answering. "He is my rival."

Asuka raises an eyebrow. "How is that so?"

"We had a street fight some time ago, and it was a draw." He sighs angrily. "Then I entered the third Tekken tournament to kick his ass, but didn't have the chance until the fifth tournament." He ignores the details.

"Wait, you're a Tekken fighter?" She asks stunned. "So am I!"

Hwoarang frowns a bit. "Really?"

"Yes!" She says, quite amazed with the coincidence. "I entered the fifth tournament to avenge my father." She says, half-angry half-frustrated.

"And did you do it?" Hwoarang asks, curious.

"No. The guy defeated me." She sighs. "But he was beaten up real bad in his following match, so I just started thinking of him as an insect afterwards." She says, giving him a dismissive shrug. Hwoarang laughs.

After a moment of silence, Hwoarang changes the subject. "Well, then you really don't know nothing about the auburn-haired lady?"

Asuka sighs frustrated. "No."

"Alright, then. Thanks for the time, girl. Sorry for bothering, though. Get some rest." He says and turns, walking to the door. "Maybe we'll see each other again. Who knows." He opens it and leaves before she's able to say goodbye.

She keeps looking intently to the door for a few seconds, with an amazed expression, and then turns back to the television.

 _This was oddly interesting._

* * *

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 07:35 UTC (02:35 in local time)  
Cancún, Quintana Roo, México_

"Por aquí!" Zafina screams. It is the only sentence she can speak in Spanish.

Zafina is doing voluntary work in the south of México. Refugees coming from the Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche are being relocated either to Yucatán or Quintana Roo to be medically treated and fed. Everybody is going to be staying here until it is safe enough to go back or too dangerous to stay.

"Por aquí!" Zafina screams again, putting her arms up to signalize. The loosen mid-sleeves of her orange blouse moving at every single thing she does. She is also wearing brown pants and black sandals.

Zafina felt useless back in Egypt when there was a war going on. In a last minute self-made decision, she volunteered to work in a refugee camp organized by a philanthropic organization. She wasn't able to stop the evil, but she can at least ease the situation.

"Por aquí!" She screams for the millionth time.

Zafina's job, so far, is to give everybody a basic-needs pack. It contains clean clothes and basic objects of hygiene. For women, it also contains absorbents. There are four types of packs: for average women, for average men, for 5-12 years-old children and unisex plus-size. Children younger than 4 and pregnant women have special specific packs, and they not come through here.

"Por aquí!"

Each group that passes by has 20 people. After a basic checkup, people who are not seriously injured are selected to pass through Zafina and then go further inside the hangar, where there is a collective improvised place with many mattresses so people can rest. The hangar is huge, and is an improvised refugee camp on Cancún's airport. It is big, made of greyish brown wood and grey stone ground. There is a violent storm outside.

"Por aquí!" She screams for, like, the zillionth time.

Some people mutter 'gracias' and 'Dios te bendiga' as they get the packs, while anothers are in a clear state of shock and act like robots. But a similarity in all of those people is that everybody is quite dirty, sweaty and scared _. This war is horrid._

"No más grupos!" A male volunteer screams from the door of the hangar, and starts closing it on the right side

"No more groups!" The woman on the left side of the door screams and starts closing it as well.

"What now?" Zafina asks confusedly in English, showcasing her Egyptian accent, to nobody in particular.

"We go there." A woman who's passing by says, pointing to her destination. "Love." She continues, clearly in an attempt to communicate on a language she is not fluent in. Zafina smiles and nods, following the woman.

 _Speaking of love, I'll make sure to call home whenever I get the chance_ , Zafina sighs as she keeps her pace. Zafina crosses a second door, leading to a place full of mattresses and crying people. _This place is so full of suffering_ , she thinks as she puts her hands on her heart. She eyes the people, and eventually starts walking towards a woman who's silently crying in state of shock.

"Hey." Zafina says to call the woman's attention, since she doesn't speak Spanish. She only understands a little.

The woman looks at her, and Zafina leans for a hug. The woman hugs her back and breaks into tears, this time almost screaming out of pain. They hug each other tighter every second, Zafina holding her own tears back.

"Qué pasa?" Zafina asks in a comforting tone, one of the few Spanish sentences she has been able to memorize.

The woman seems to try to explain, but every time she attempts to start, she feels even more painful, and goes louder on crying. Zafina keeps whispering 'todo bien' all the time.

After a couple of minutes of this, the woman starts speaking in Spanish between sobs. Zafina doesn't really understand much. She is not only a foreigner, but also the woman's sobs are making it all near impossible. The only things she is able to understand are the words 'man', 'violent', and 'nightmare', in completely random order through the woman's speech. Zafina just keeps whispering to her that everything is going to be alright.

Eventually, the woman gets calmer, although she is clearly still scared. Zafina gives her a warm reassuring smile, which the woman answers with a faint smile of her own. Zafina helps the woman to lie down. The woman must be on her early 50s, and has tanned skin and black hair. She has wrinkles on her face as of someone who has worked hard through all her life. Zafina gently passes her hand through the woman's hair, giving her a last warm smile. She then gets up and proceeds to see someone else.

After a few steps through people sleeping on the floor and people who are already being assisted, she spots a man on his mid-60s sitting on his mattress. His head is on his knees, and he is embracing his legs. He seems to be in a complete state of shock, like his mind is on another planet. He has the same skin tone of the woman Zafina has just talked to, but his hair is white. He is wearing circle glasses.

Zafina crouches and puts her left hand on the man's shoulder. He slowly turns his head towards her, the shock still present. "The man." He says in Spanish.

Zafina frowns. "Qué pasa?" She asks concerned.

"The man brought destruction." The man continues in Spanish.

 _That's what humanity does_ , she thinks and sighs. She wants to tell the man to lie down, but she doesn't know the words in Spanish. She starts fluff the pillow and stretch the blanket over the man's feet. He seems to get the cue, as he slowly lies down, but the expression of his face is kept intact. Zafina proceeds to cover him until the shoulders, and she keeps passing her hand through his white hair until his shock loses to his tiredness, and he falls into sleep.

Zafina gets up again. The process keeps repeating itself. She spends between 5 and 15 minutes with each person, letting them cry and talk as she keeps herself silent, but showing them empathy and warmth. After a few hours, everybody is asleep, so the volunteers start to lie down on their own mattresses, including Zafina. She is praying when she involuntarily starts overhearing a conversation, this time in English.

"Do you know what man they're talking about?" A raspy male voice says, with a Caribbean accent, although it's not able to determine of which English-speaking island he's from.

"I don't know, but everybody who arrived today was talking about a man." A female voice says in an American accent.

"A guy told me a strong man destroyed a village with his own hands, like a beast." A third voice says, another male one, this time in a Hispanic accent.

"At least they're safe now." Zafina finds herself invading the conversation with a thick accent of her own.

"Yes. We're going to help them." The female voice of before says.

"They're going to be fine." The Hispanic-accented male voice says.

Everyone falls into muteness after that. The only hearable sounds are the many breaths of the people inside, a few snores, the heavy rain outside and the ocean waves. The silence, however, is louder than any other sound. The tension is high in here. Deep inside, all these volunteers are just as scared as the people. That includes Zafina. She's so afraid. Afraid for these people in here. Afraid for the soldiers, whoever's side they're in. Afraid for the people who haven't been rescued. Afraid even for the fellow volunteers and for herself. And she knows a similar thing can happen at any moment on her birth country. The Arab world is always so instable. What would happen to her village? To her family? Her friends? The image of many people cross her mind. _The guy who owns the local market. Jasmine, her friend. Zafina's parents. Cousins. Aunts and uncles. What is gonna happen to them?_

Zafina can't help but cry silently. _I need to find a way out of this nightmare. Not only to me, but to everybody._ She sinks her face in the pillow.

 _This war has to end._

* * *

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 11:30 UTC (06:30 in local time)  
Somewhere in the State of Amazonas, Brasil_

Julia knew she had no time to waste. She has to make this call. It is now or never. After taking two flights, she and the rest of Kazuya's crew were staying in a small simple hotel of a small town near to the border with Colombia and Venezuela. The actual mission was going to start at 7:00, when daylight is full. Julia, however, had been ready for some minutes now, dressed on her red shirt and sneakers, and blue jeans. The hair, as always, was done in a single braid with some feathers.

After finishing her breakfast on the hotel, probably the only hotel of the city, she went out for a walk. The place is a ghost town. There are no people in the streets. All stores are closed. No wonder why. During the night, she was able to hear some screams coming from the Forest Reservation Park, which is not far away from here. Actually, the whole town was pretty much surrounded by the Amazon forest. Whoever still stays here, is locked inside their homes. That includes the owners of the hotel she is in.

In the reception room of the hotel, she had bought some sort of card that allows her to use the public telephone. Now, all she needs to do is find one. She had been walking for about only 5 minutes now, but it felt like an eternity. _It is on these moments that I wish I had a cellphone_ , she curses on her mind.

Yesterday afternoon, her friend Lee had invited her to help him out on a project of Violet Systems. After the meeting with Kazuya, she felt like distracting her mind would be the best thing to do, so she accepted the invitation. She was surprised to see how big the São Paulo installations of Violet Systems were, but then again, Lee's company is headquartered in Rio, so that shouldn't have been a surprise.

While there, besides a surprise call from fellow allies, she helped on Lee's project, Combot. It is a robot that should be able to know how to fight the martial arts of all the Tekken fighters at the same time. However, the machine was only able to do only one kind of fighting style at a time. During that, Lee mentioned the names of the fighters Combot was able to mimicry, including a guy named Ganryu, whose fighting style is sumo. That clicked on her mind. Barbara, her distant friend, said something about a sumo fighter. Julia had never met Ganryu, but if he was a Tekken fighter, maybe Lee knew, so she tried to take every information she could out of him, but without arousing suspicion, of course.

She learned that Lee had never fought Ganryu, but knew the guy in person. That's why, many years ago, both worked for Heihachi and Kazuya on the Mishima Zaibatsu, during the period of the first and second tournaments, although they were not close. After the second tournament, Lee never saw the guy anymore. He only heard about the guy again in the fifth tournament, and Ganryu has returned to all other tournaments ever since. Lee hasn't met him again, and simply doesn't know why he has come back to the tournaments after all these years.

After some research, she found out that Ganryu has a restaurant in Hawaii. She took the phone number of the place from the internet and wrote it in a small piece of paper.

Finally spotting a telephone booth, Julia takes the small piece of paper and the special card out of her back pocket. She dials the number and waits.

"Chanko Paradise, how may I help you?" A female voice says on the other side of the line.

"Hello, I am looking for the owner of the place, his name is Ganryu." Julia says.

"Who is it?"

"Julia Chang."

"Just a moment." Then, Julia hears a noise, as if the woman had put the phone on a table or somewhere else. There are some seconds of muffled sound, probably coming from the clients of the restaurant, before there is another noise, as if someone is grabbing the phone. "Julia?!" A male raspy voice asks, surprised.

"Is this Ganryu?" Julia asks innocently.

"Yes! Oh, Julia!" He answers.

Oblivious to his excitement, Julia continues. "Listen, I really need to make you some questions. Do you mind?"

"Oh, anything to my dear Julia!" Ganryu says.

"You fought in the second King of Iron Fist, right?"

"Yes, I did!" Ganryu answers in the same happy voice.

"Have you met a woman named Michelle Chang?"

Silence. After some seconds, Julia thought the line had gone dead, but before she could say ' _hello?_ ', Ganryu answered.

"Yes. Oh, how beautiful she was. It was love at first sight." He says in a sad voice full of longing. "After that tournament, I never saw her again. And, some years later, I was devastated to find out she had disappeared. I only went back to the tournaments when I saw you fighting in the fourth tournament. You look so much like her."

Julia is taken aback by this. "What?!"

"I feel bad for liking you this much. But deep inside, when I look to you, I look to Michelle." He sighs on the other line.

"How did you meet her?!" Julia asks in the same shocked tone of before.

"Uh… well…" Ganryu makes a pause. "It is something I'm very ashamed of."

 _Julia, focus_ , she tells herself on her mind, getting calmer. "I need to know. Please." She asks, now in a serious tone.

"Well, I think you have the right to know." Ganryu says. Julia doesn't know what to make of this, so she lets him continue. "I was Kazuya's employee on the second tournament, and he had asked me to take care of someone he had kidnapped." He makes a pause. "That someone happened to be Michelle's mother."

Julia's jaw drops and her eyes widen. The state of shock is back. "What?!"

Ganryu simply sighs on the other line. "That was when I realized how wrong my life was."

Julia tries her best to calm herself again before she speaks. "Do you know why he did that?"

"I was just his bodyguard. I have no idea. I just did what I was told, although I let her take her mother." There is a long pause. "Why you ask?"

"I just had to know." That's all Julia is able to say. "Thank you for answering. Goodbye." She hangs up before Ganryu is able to say anything else.

She leans her back on the wall of a building and sighs, trying her hardest to organize the thoughts on her mind. _I still can't believe I'm working for… him. He has done so many bad things to so many people, including my own mother…_ A tear falls. _But I think it's a good thing I've come to this mission. Whatever are his plans, I can stop him._ She wipes the tear away with the back of her hand. _I will stop him._ She has found determination out of nowhere. She starts walking, going back to the hotel. _I know I can. So does The Agency. He is not going to do any more harm._

* * *

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 14:03 UTC (11:03 in local time)  
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil_

The sunlight glows on his chocolate skin as he walks through the streets of the favela. He has just left his orphanage, which he paid a visit. It is now being taken care of by his aunt. He goes down the slum as the burning sun keeps the temperature up. His brown dreadlocks shake at each of his steps. His green button shirt and his khakis pants are impeccable, even though he is sweating slightly.

As he goes down the slum, he thinks about his past. This favela always makes him nostalgic. Although he grew up in a wealthy family, his mother's relatives lived in here, so he has spent a lot of time here. And this is where his got his nickname, 'Gordo'. That is because he was a chubby boy back in the day, and the fellow kids started calling him that. It wasn't bullying, actually – everybody had a nickname of the same fashion. And as he grew up as an athletic man, the nickname stuck, and he embraced it.

When his found his father shot and dying, he was devastated. But he did according to his father's last words – he said he was the murderer, and went to prison. He spent 8 years living a hellish life in there. What kept him going was his desire for revenge, and later, a friend he made in there. That friend was a legendary capoeira master, who taught Eddy everything he knows about fighting.

When he left prison, he entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 to seek his revenge, with hopes to persuade the Mishima Financial Group to help him. Since Eduardo Siqueira was too much of a complicated name to be pronounced in other languages, he entered as Eddy Gordo. The only thing he was able to make there was a friend, Hwoarang. Besides, he lost the tournament, so he went back to his home country. Back in Brasil, he recovered his family's financial business and sought out his master's granddaughter, Cristina Monteiro, so he could fulfill what he promised to his master, which was to teach her capoeira. Also, he invaded a drug dealer's mansion, who his father was trying to imprison. The man told him that the actual responsible behind it was Kazuya Mishima.

After that, Eddy pretty much disappeared, seeking revenge. That was the reason Cristina entered in the fourth Tekken tournament, where she was nicknamed Christie. They would only encounter when her grandfather was about to be freed from prison, and both found an old and frail ill man. They took him to the hospital, where they learned he had an incurable illness. With hopes to find a cure, both Eddy and Christie entered the fifth Tekken tournament.

At the conclusion of the tournament, he spoke alone with Jin Kazama, who promised to find a cure to the legendary capoeira master if Eddy joined the Tekken Force. He did so, and even upon seeing the world war that was being caused, he stayed loyal to the Zaibatsu, even though he had the chance to betray it in a coup d'état organized by a fellow officer, Lars Alexandersson.

At the conclusion of the sixth tournament, his master died. He left the Tekken Force afterwards.

Entering his limousine, the driver takes him to his mansion. After about five minutes, his cellphone breaks the silence inside the car. Eddy takes it to see that a blocked number is calling him. Frowning, he answers nonetheless, since that's the only way to find out who it is.

"Eddy?" A male voice says. Eddy recognizes it instantly.

"You!" He says angrily, fuming.

"Please, let me talk." The man says in a calm and concerned tone. Eddy senses the deep guilt on the man's voice, so he calms himself only enough to listen. The man continues. "I tried to find a cure to your master, but there was none."

Eddy explodes at hearing this. "Mentiroso! You did _nothing_! You let him die! You're gonna pay for it, Kazama!"

"Eddy." Jin says. _Does it sound like he's going to… cry?_ "I swear I did everything I could."

Eddy is silent. He hates to admit it, but Jin is telling the truth. He can feel it. A single tear falls from Eddy's right eye as he remembers his capoeira master. As if Jin had sensed it, he speaks. "I'm sorry."

Eddy doesn't wipe the tear away. It simply falls. There is a moment of silence, until it is broken by the person on the other side of the line. "Eddy." It is a male voice, but it's not Jin. It sounds familiar, but Eddy is not able to recognize it.

"Who is this?" Eddy asks.

"It's Lars."

Eddy's eyes widen slightly. "I thought you were against Jin." He says, more as a question.

"I was. But I learned he has noble intentions."

"What?" Eddy is dumbfounded.

"It's true." Lars says. "And we need your help."

Eddy frowns heavily, then scoffs. " _My_ help?"

"Yes." Lars says. "Please."

"So you can make more war?" He asks angrily.

"No." Lars answers, the same calmness. "So we can stop it."

There is a pause. Then, Lars speaks up again. "I want to tell you more details about it, but you're not on a secure line right now."

As silence falls again, Eddy reflects. Reflects deeply. He can't believe he actually made this decision, but he has. "Alright." It is all that he says.

Lars gives him a few instructions, which Eddy hears silently. Lars finishes it by saying "Thank you." He then hangs up, and Eddy puts his cellphone back where it was.

 _If the leader of a coup d'état against Jin Kazama has turned to his side, that must mean something._

The car arrives at Eddy's mansion. He sees his friend, Christie, practicing capoeira on the garden. He smiles briefly at the sight.

 _Let's see if they really have noble intentions._

* * *

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 17:57 UTC (18:57 in local time)  
Barcelona, Spain_

Josie is leaving a bar, happy. She has managed to get a job as a waitress, at night. She is going to start tomorrow. The blue of her jeans, the red of her flat shoes and the yellow of her strapless shirt look quite funny under the pale moonlight. Her caramel skin and chocolate hair are sweetened by the shine of the stars. She is walking back to the place she is currently living with her grandmother.

In the context of the Third World War, her native country, the Philippines, entered on a deep civil war. Resuming it all, it is pretty much the Muslims against the rest of the people. She wanted to join the army and fight. However, she is the only one left to take care of her sick grandmother, since all the other members of her family are men, therefore they all had to serve obligatorily. Taking advantage of her grandmother's dual citizenship, they fled to Spain. Josie took some of the family funds to buy a kitchenette in Barcelona.

Josie's full name is Josefina Rizal, named after her grandmother. However, since an early age, it has been shortened to Josie, thanks to her English-speaking friends. The nickname stuck, and if anybody shouts out 'Josefina!' in the streets, Josie's simply gonna walk past the person.

Josie trips over something. She turns back to see it wasn't something, but _someone_. There is a huge man sitting on the ground, his face on his knees. His left hand is embracing his legs, but his right hand is holding a bottle of beer. There are half a dozen empty bottles around him, though.

Josie crouches, but keeping a safe distance from the man. "Are you alright?" She asks in Spanish.

The man looks up. She gasps. "You?!" She says.

He simply puts his face back on his knees. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" She says angrily. "Get up!"

"Leave me alone." He mumbles.

 _What was his name again?_ , she thinks as she tosses the bottle out of his hand. "There's no way I'm leaving you here."

"Why not?!" He asks, enraged.

"Look at yourself." She says frustrated. "There is no way for a man to be. Mainly not a man like you. Where is the guy who kicked my ass yesterday?" She says, trying to lift both his spirit and his body up.

He looks at her quite amazed, and gets up with her help. "What was your name again?" He asks in a drunk manner.

"Josie." She answers. "And I can't recall yours, I'm sorry."

"Miguel." _Oh, yes, Miguel_ , she thinks as she helps him walk.

"Where do you live?" She asks.

Realizing that he is being helped, he wakes up from his drunken reverie. "Oh, no, no, there's no need to help me." He says. "I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Josie says in a concerned tone.

Miguel takes his arm off of her, and analyzes her for a second. She does the same to him. He is wearing an orange shirt, black jeans and black shoes.

Miguel scoffs. "Are you really willing to help me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" She answers, clearly offended.

"If this was the other way around, I would've laughed at you." He says. And the worse: it's sincere.

This time, she scoffs. "Fine then. I did what I could here." She turns and walks away. "Have a good night."

Miguel watches her go away for some long seconds. A mix of confusion, amazement and plain drunk confusedness is going on his head right now.

 _Whatever._

* * *

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 21:00 UTC (11:00 in local time)  
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Of America_

Nina is currently sitting on a restaurant table, alone. The private Zaibatsu jet that was taking her, Lars, Alisa and Jin back to Japan had to make a stop to refuel. That gives an hour to kill. Since she had slept the whole flight, her excuse of grabbing a bite worked, so she took a taxi and asked for the driver to go to the nearest restaurant. Now here she is, on some tropical place called Chanko Paradise, eating some random dish with fish, although she is not hungry. She only needs some time alone.

She can't stop thinking about Steve Fox. Luckily, during the conference video call of Wednesday, the laptop camera was showing only Robyn, Raven and Lars, but Nina saw him. Seeing him awakened many dormant feelings. The same things she felt when she first learned he's her son, back in the fourth Tekken tournament. A mix of shock, sadness, rage and deception.

Shock because she still can't believe she has a son. It feels as such a distant thing. _Of course it does_. She allows herself to sigh. She didn't see the progression of the pregnancy, neither raise the boy.

Sadness because she can't even imagine how it is like to grow in an orphanage without any parents. Although she had the love of her father, her relationship with her mother was distant, even though they lived in the same household. She remembers how sad she would feel at times. But at least she had someone. Steve has been always on his own.

Rage because Heihachi was capable of doing such a thing. Nina may be an assassin, but even she has some morals. She shouldn't have expected less from him, though. He threw his own son from a cliff and later from a volcano, adopted a boy he didn't love and raised him as if he was a piece of garbage, kidnapped his grandson, and the list of barbarities goes on.

Deception because she keeps thinking about what could've been. Since she has never lived with him, she feels nothing for him. Yet, she feels guilty, because she is his mother nonetheless, and it was her responsibility to raise him. But she wasn't able to.

Nina finishes her meal and then her glass of water. Her blonde ponytail falls on her shoulder as she calls a waiter with her left hand. She is wearing a golden catsuit and black stilettos.

A very fat man approaches her. He is on his mid-50s and has a black single-braided hair. He is wearing a green T-shirt and blue jeans with black formal shoes. It is impossible for her not to recognize him. Since she's not only an assassin but also Jin's bodyguard, she knows about every Tekken fighter. That includes Ganryu, who's the one approaching her.

She is a bit surprised to see he's handling her the bill. She doesn't show it though, as she is wearing her usual icy cold expression of always. Then it clicks her. She remembers reading something about him owning a restaurant in his file. He seems to be sad. Nina, however, simply ignores it, since it is none of her business. She pays and leaves.

Nina allows herself to give a faint smile at her last thought about Steve. _At least he has grown up to be a good boy._

She waves for a cab, gets in and it goes away, heading back for the airport.

* * *

 _[Day 4]_

 _Thursday, 23:40 UTC (15:40 in local time)  
San Francisco, Los Angeles, United States Of America_

The Laws plus Paul are sitting on a beige couch, in a room of wooden floor. The moonlight being outshined by the room's white lamp. The night is still young for them as they watch a comedy show on television.

"Oh man, I love this show!" Forest says. He's wearing a navy blue T-shirt and grey pants, messy hair and barefoot.

"So shut up and watch!" Paul says, half-angry half-joking. He's wearing his usual black leather bad boy jacket, pants and boots.

Meadow simply sighs. "I'm going to the bathroom." She stands and leaves.

Marshall sighs in a similar fashion and turns to watch his wife walking. _She still has the same beauty after all these years_. She is wearing a simple white strap dress that goes until her knees and white flip-flops. He smiles faintly before turning his head back to the TV. Marshall is also wearing white on his shirt, but has navy blue on his pants.

The commercial starts and Paul and Forest start fighting over the remote control. Marshall sighs again. "Can you stop?" He says as he gets the remote control to himself.

"Dad!" Forest says, frustrated.

"Just cut it off!" Marshall says angrily, putting the remote away from their hands.

"But, hey, tell me about the club." Paul says to Forest, ignoring Marshall's action. "That girl you talked about."

"Damn dude, it was crazy! One second she was knocking a guy down, in the other second she was making out with Steve!"

Paul chuckles loudly. "My man!"

Marshal sighs for the millionth time. The telephone rings. Since Forest and Paul are too concentrated on talking about ladies, Marshall gets up to answer it.

"Hello?"

Paul cuts off the topic with Forest to pay attention on Marshall. "Who is it there?!" He screams, as always. Forest turns to his father as well.

Marshall is wearing a half-shocked half-serious expression. "Paul. It's your mother."

"My mother?" He scoffs.

"Yes. She passed."

Silence falls. Not until Paul breaks it, as usual. "What?!"

Marshall extends his hand with the telephone. Paul quickly stands and picks it up. Marshall goes back to his seat, where his wife is back and has already turned off the TV. She silently tells Forest to take the popcorn back to the kitchen and clean up the rest of the mess of the living room.

Paul puts the phone back on its place after a couple of minutes. He is visibly lost. "Thanks pal." Paul says to Marshall, and leaves with no more words. Nobody tries to stop him, though. Perhaps the probable best thing to do is leave him alone for now. The Laws silently prepare themselves to go to bed, the happy feeling of the night being completely shattered by the sad news.

 **End of Chapter Four**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Chapter 4! An update earlier than ever before! _Yaasss!_

Introducing: Asuka Kazama, Ganryu, Eddy Gordo and Christie Monteiro!  
 _(And some clues about next chapter's introduced-to-be character…)_

Also, I named Marshall's wife Meadow based on their son's name, Forest. I didn't think much about it – it just crossed my mind and I typed it instantly.

This chapter is shorter (7200 words), because my inspiration was shattered by Nina Williams' reveal for _Tekken 7: Fated Retribution_. Not that I don't like her, but her new outfit is a wedding dress, and I'm not sure if I like it storywise speaking. I feel like they're gonna pair her up with Jin, and sincerely, I'm not sure she should end up with Jin. I can't barely picture her as someone who has a heart, lol. And that's what made writing a part about her in this chapter so interesting – because it is one of the few moments in which she allows herself to feel something. She's quiet, icy and manipulative (the only exception being when she's with her sister, and on such moments she simply mocks Anna). And even though Namco is (IN MY OPINION) putting Jin as a guy who turned out to be evil, I still see him as someone who's good and serene inside. To me, he's still a timid boy from Yakushima.

 ***ANSWERING*** Reibun \- Thank you VERY much for your kind words! Thanks for the pairing suggestions, though. Asuka/Hwoarang is something I already had on her mind (as you're able to see in this chapter... _hehe_ ), and also a few other pairings you've mentioned (but I'm not going to mention which ones, _mwahaha_ ).  
I'm glad you've enjoyed the OCs so far. I'm trying my hardest to put them correctly within the story. I mean, some people need to be added up in important parts, but they can't steal the spotlight, you know what I mean? And that's what I'm trying to do with them. I'm happy you're enjoying them.  
And no, it's not wrong to ship Josie with Miguel. I might give this couple a chance. And it's funny because I didn't write their scene on the last chapter with those intentions, I just wanted them to meet, lol. I just came to realize the possibility afterwards.  
And you're right to hope Steve/Leo aren't a romantic pair, because they're definetely not. Their moment was more of brotherhood, so I'm happy to see it makes you remember of you and your brother, it makes me feel like I've done my thing right.  
Well, what makes me actually happy is that you like my writing style, because I personally think I suck, lol. I'll make sure to keep up, at least for you. :)  
Thank you _very very very very_ much **!**

Anyway, **thanks** everyone, and see you next time. :)


	5. Encounters and Discoveries

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter Five: Encounters and D** **iscoveries**

 _[Day 5]_

 _Friday, 09:19 UTC (10:19 in local time)  
_ _Milan, Italy_

"Damn, I knew haute-couture clothes were expensive, but I didn't know it was _this_ much!" The girl with two black ponytails says, sighing in frustration.

"Yeah." The other girl, this one with reddish brown short hair, says in the same tone of frustration.

The two disgruntled friends are walking through the streets of Milan. The bright sun caresses their porcelain skins warmly as leisurely steps are given by them, while the vivid city around them keeps its intense routine of having many hurried people, fast cars and fancy stores, like it's an electric circuit turned on by human life.

The girl with two black ponytails is wearing light blue torn jeans and a white blouse with many silver paillettes in the back, besides black flat shoes. The girl of reddish brown short hair wears a black blouse cut out in the back to form a skull and white jeans with black sandals.

"Xiaoyu." The girl of reddish brown hair sighs her friend's name in the most childlike way possible.

"What is it, Miharu?" The girl of black ponytails says.

"Let's take a break, I can't walk anymore."

Xiaoyu sighs. "Alright. I guess I could use a break."

Both girls sit on a street bench in the sidewalk. For now, they keep themselves silent, simply contemplating the foreign city around them. For some odd reason, the grey sidewalks, the grey streets and the grey buildings of Milan are different from the grey sidewalks, grey streets and grey buildings of Tokyo. Some pigeons fly high in the bright blue sky, as few small white clouds pass by. Each car that runs down the street seems to faster them the last one that passed by before. But, at the same time, it feels like the possibilities of fast are never going to end, which means that's all just an illusion and all the cars are pretty much in the same speed. The same impression occurs with the people around, since each of them seems to be in a worse mood than the one by their side.

"Look over there!" Miharu breaks the silence, pointing to tons of people crossing the street.

Xiaoyu narrows her eyes and tries her hardest to see who specifically Miharu is pointing to, but to no avail.

"The blonde one!" Miharu adds.

Xiaoyu narrows her eyes once more and looks for someone who's blonde. She finds the task hard, until she spots the blonde person and realizes how much the individual stands out in the middle of the crowd.

"She looks familiar." Xiaoyu murmurs. "I think."

"We watched her on TV, don't you remember?" Miharu asks. "On the tournaments!"

Xiaoyu frowns as they keep watching the girl. She is deep in thought, trying to remember.

"I think she lost to Jin's cousin once." Miharu says.

Then it clicks on Xiaoyu's mind. "Yes! It's true! I remember now." Xiaoyu says, happy she was able to recall it. "I think her name was… Gigi… or Lili…"

"Gigi!" Miharu screams on the top of her lungs.

"Miharu! Stop! Are you crazy?!" Xiaoyu says in a whisper, angrily.

"What? I'm just trying to call her!"

"So don't, then! We don't even know her name! Besides, what would we say?"

Miharu stops for a second and thinks. "Oh, well, I guess it's true."

Xiaoyu sighs in frustration. "Let's get going." She stands, and Miharu follows suit as both start walking.

"Hey." A third voice says.

Xiaoyu and Miharu turn to see the blonde girl they were talking about.

"I think I have seen you both somewhere, haven't I?"

Xiaoyu and Miharu look at each other from the corner of their eyes, and then turn their gazes back to the girl. The blonde girl is wearing a white leather jacket covering all her torso and dark blue jeans with black leather boots.

"From the tournaments." Miharu mutters shyly.

The blonde girl frowns for a second, and seems to be thinking. Then she acts like a bulb was turned on inside her head.

"Oh! Yes, of course! The tournaments!" She exclaims. "I think I've seen you fighting." She says looking to Xiaoyu. "You're good." She smiles.

Xiaoyu smiles back. "Thank you. You too." She says, even though she doesn't actually remember how Lili fights.

"Thanks, it means a lot, mainly because I'm self-taught."

Xiaoyu raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes!" Lili exclaims. "I've studied gymnastics and ballet for many years. I've always appreciated martial arts, but I couldn't find a style that would fit me, so I came up with my own fighting style." She says happily.

 _She sure likes to fight_ , Xiaoyu thinks. _She seems excited to be talking about it._

"But what brings you to Milan?" Lili asks, curious.

"Oh, we're just tourists!" Xiaoyu answers.

"Making some shopping, I presume?" Lili chuckles a bit.

"Yes, sort of." Xiaoyu answers nervously.

There is a moment of silence. Lili takes a good look on both, with a clinical eye. _I guess I could use a pastime_ , Lili thinks _. I'm really in need of one. Besides, poor girls, they deserve some Gucci_. "Don't even say a word. It's on me. Let's go." She breaks the silence and passes between Xiaoyu and Miharu, being followed by an old man in a black tuxedo.

"What?" Miharu says confused.

"It's on me, come on! The stores won't be open forever!" Lili says as she keeps walking.

Xiaoyu and Miharu look to each again. Xiaoyu simply shrugs, and Miharu smiles. "Let's go then!" Miharu exclaims, and the both friends follow Lili.

* * *

 _[Day 5]_

 _Friday, 12:03 UTC (21:03 in local time)  
Tokyo, Japan_

"When will I be able to train?" Jin asks, curious but serious.

"Around Monday." Anthony, the doctor, answers. Jin sighs in frustration. "Just remember that the wait will be worth it. It's better to recover fully now than to have more problems in the future." Anthony continues. Jin simply nods in agreement.

Jin was taken back to Tokyo, since all he needs to do now is rest a bit. Anthony, who's going to be his private doctor now, has come as well to ensure that Jin won't have a health relapse. Besides, the less amount of people know about the Devil Gene, the better.

Anthony finishes adjusting the saline solution on the metal pedestal. "I'll be back in an hour to take it out of your arm." Anthony says, pointing to the needle. Jin nods and the doctor leaves the room.

Jin is alone in his office, in the last floor of the Mishima Zaibatsu headquarters. He is sitting on his chair, wearing a white button shirt of long sleeves, although the right sleeve is rolled up for the saline solution he's getting in the vein. He turns his head to face the ceiling, closes up his eyes and inspires slowly. _I miss you, mother._ He expires. _I thank whoever god who's up in the heavens for giving me my childhood life back during the coma. Now I see how much I needed to be close to my dear mother, at least one last time._

A knock on the door takes Jin out of his thoughts. He uses the tool of his tablet on the desk to see who it is via camera. He sees that it is Nina, so he unlocks the door pressing a button on the high-tech telephone. Lars, who was acting as the CEO until yesterday, used this same phone and this same office.

Nina enters and closes the door silently. She takes some steps until she stops in front of the desk. "Jin." She says and nods. "Your relative, Asuka Kazama, left the hospital yesterday. I thought you should know."

Jin ponders for a minute whether it is worth it to know about her. After all he has no idea if they're actually close. He decides that having extra information is never too much. Nina takes his long silence as a positive sign to continue, so she does. "Her family dojo in Osaka was attack on Wednesday morning, and she entered the city hospital shortly after. She was released yesterday morning to recover at home." She makes a pause. "Her injuries had been a good amount of scratches and bruises, and a sprained ankle. She was only taken to the hospital because, according to the medical report, she was unconscious. But further examination showed it was just tiredness."

Jin nods as a sign to show he has listened. Nina then continues. "The authorities are investigating the case, and although they don't know who exactly who attacked the dojo, they know that it is the same person that has been attacking many dojos through Japan, and with one case in South Korea." Jin slightly raises an eyebrow as she makes a pause. "That case in South Korea, in fact, was the dojo of another King of Iron Fist competitor, Baek Doo San." Jin's eyebrow is still raised. "The police hasn't been able to get his full testimony yet because he has been more severely injured. His medical report related, besides common wounds, first-degree burns and knife cuts." Jin's eyebrow is further raised.

Nina clears her throat and continues. "The intruder has been described as woman of auburn hair and fox max." Nina takes a file folder from under her right arm, an object that Jin hadn't even noticed. She puts it on his desk, and he opens. "Making further research, it wasn't hard to find out someone who had those characteristics in the Zaibatsu Database." She concludes.

Jin makes a movement with his head for her to take a seat, and so she does as he starts reading. The file starts as:

 _Name: Kunimitsu  
Status: Alive  
Nationality: Japanese (formerly)  
Height: 173 cm (as recorded from the Second King of Iron Fist Tournament)  
Weight: 58kg (as recorded from the Second King of Iron Fist Tournament)  
Blood Type: O_ _(as recorded from the Second King of Iron Fist Tournament)_ _  
Fighting Style: Manji Ninjutsu  
Occupation: Manji Clan member (formerly); Thief_

After that basic information, there are two pictures of her – one from the first tournament, and another one from the second tournament – the only pictures of her that are known to exist. After that, the file follows telling a resume of what is known about her life.

 _Little is known about Kunimitsu's early life. Formerly a Manji Clan member, she was expelled by the leader, Yoshimitsu, after she stole from the Clan's funds._

 _Her life as a thief, however, just continued, and she joined the first tournament presumably to plunder a Native American treasure owned by a fellow competitor, Michelle Chang, besides the desire to face Yoshimitsu._

 _However, she never faced Yoshimitsu and later was easily defeated by Michelle Chang. After the conclusion of the first tournament, she reportedly worked as an air conditioner repairer._

 _Her reasons to enter the second tournament are presumably the same. She was defeated by Yoshimitsu, and her whereabouts have been considered unknown ever since._

After that, there are more pages with deeper details of her participation in the tournaments. Jin looks to Nina, leaving the file opened on the first page. "Her intentions by invading the dojos are unknown. She hasn't stolen not even a cent from any of them. Usually, the place is found unorganized afterwards, but nothing is ever missing." Nina says.

Jin controls the urge to frown and maintains his grim. "What are her intentions?" He speaks for the first time, in his usual monotone voice.

"Officially, unknown." Nina answers automatically, repeating herself.

"What do _you_ think are her intentions?" Jin rephrases.

If Nina has been taken aback by the question it's not possible to say, because just as Jin, she never changes her expression. She always and only wears an icy grim on her face. She seems to be thinking as she keep herself silent for a few seconds. Then, she finally speaks. "I suppose she may be trying to get the Manji Clan's attention."

It is not necessary to ask 'why', since it is very obvious why the Cat Lady would want to do such thing, so Jin simply doesn't ask. "I understand." He says as he eyes the first page again.

After a few seconds of silence, Nina speaks again. "Do you wish me to take any actions?"

Jin keeps eyeing the file as if he hasn't even heard Nina. However, after some seconds, he answers. "Is Interpol aware of this?"

"Mr. Lei Wulong has been assigned to the case."

"So there is no need to take action." He says and makes a pause. "Also, make sure to pay the medical bills of Mr. Baek and Ms. Kazama." He then closes the file and looks to her, pushing the document to her direction in the desk.

"Yes, sir." She takes the envelope and puts it under her right arm again. "Is there anything else?"

To Nina, it seems as if Jin is trying to choose the correct words to approach something. And she's right, because he really is. However, after some seconds, simply he decides to say with no much ceremony. "Do you remember the second tournament?"

This time, it is clear Nina has been taken aback, because she stiffens up and her eyes slightly widen. Jin is looking directly in her eyes, waiting for the answer. His grim doesn't help much, although he is actually calm.

Nina lowers her gaze a little bit, clearly deep in thought. In a moment, she even frowns slightly. She takes a long minute to look back to Jin and answer. "Not much." She expires as if it had been a relief to answer. "Only random flashes cross my mind." She adds.

Jin nods in understanding and leans back on his chair. Changing the subject, he speaks. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes." Nina answers, with her usual stern look already there, although Jin can sense a small bit of uncertainty on her voice.

But he chooses to ignore it. "Is this all you had to inform me?"

"Yes." She says, this time sounding completely certain. "Is there anything else I can do?" She forces herself to say because of her job, although deep inside she's hoping he won't ask her anymore personal questions.

Jin thinks for a second before he answers. "I want a report on the current whereabouts of all King of Iron Fist competitors, besides all the information known about their lives." He makes a pause. "Files in the style of that one." He says signalizing with his head in the direction of Kunimitsu's file under Nina's arm. "That includes people who don't compete anymore, and includes me as well." He makes a pause. "I want them by tomorrow morning."

Nina is definitely surprised by the request, however, as always, she doesn't show it. "Yes, sir."

Before she asks if he wants anything else, he speaks. "This is all. Thank you."

Nina gets up quickly, personally relieved that he didn't ask her anymore questions. She allows herself to raise an eyebrow while she is walking towards the door with her back facing him. _He never says 'thank you'_ , she thinks as she opens the door and leaves.

After she leaves, Jin suspends the metal tripod that is holding the saline solution as he turns his chair to face the window wall behind him. He silently watches the night life, distracting himself from his own life and his own problems.

The sky is pitch black and cloudless. Few stars are visible, and there is no moon. The majority of the shine comes from the city lights. Jin watches every single person who's walking through the sidewalks, who's crossing the streets, who's driving a vehicle. He wonders about where they are going, why they are going to that place. He thinks about how their lives may be.

 **…**

Nina is at the main database office. Here, besides a computer giving access to all information existent in the Mishima Zaibatsu Database, there are also shelves with papers with quick information about the most essential things. That includes a folder with general information about every single competitor to ever take part in the Tekken tournaments.

She stacking all the folders in a desk, one by one. She can't stop thinking about Jin's question. ' _Do you remember the second tournament?_ ' She usually didn't reflect much about things. She would only focus on her job, and personal issues would be left behind. Lately, however, she has been thinking about her personal matters quite too often. Firstly, about Steve Fox. And now, about her memory loss. Although she would never admit to the others, she hasn't fully recovered her memories. Thanks to Anna, _that insolent bitch_ , she remembers all her childhood, when she learned her assassination skills, and all the fights she had with her sister during the tournaments. But it stops by there. If something is not connected to Anna, she is not able to recall it fully. Only flashes cross her mind, but she's not sure whether they're real memories or just impressions.

She sighs in frustration as she keeps stacking the files. However, she stops when she sees her own file. After pondering for some silent seconds, she slowly opens it and starts reading it.

 _Name: Nina Williams  
Status: Alive  
Nationality: Irish  
Height: 161 cm  
Weight: 49kg  
Blood Type: A (formerly); B (changed during cryogenic sleep)  
Fighting Style: Koppojutsu based Assassination Arts and Aikido based techniques  
Occupation: Assassin; Chief position at the Mishima Zaibatsu_

Nina raises an eyebrow at reading that her blood type is not A anymore. After the most basic information, there are two pictures of her – one from the first tournament and another on from the sixth tournament. Then, there is another chart this one with secondary essential information.

 _Also known as: Silent Assassin, Cold Blooded Killer  
Species: Human  
Eyes: Blue  
Hair: Blonde  
Age: 20 (Tekken 1), 22 (Tekken 2), 41 (physically 22) (Tekken 3), 43 (physically 24) (Tekken 4-6)  
Family: Richard Williams (Father; deceased), Margaret Williams (Mother; deceased), Anna Williams (sister), Steve Fox (son)_

Nina almost laughs at reading there is actually a section to determine "species". But then again, bears, kangaroos and even a dinosaur have fought in the tournaments, so it's just fair. Following those information, there are another two pictures of her – one from the second tournament, and another one from the fifth tournament. Nina stops for a second, uncertain if she should continue. She is not sure if she's ready for this. However, she has no time to actually decide it because she hears the door opening, so she quickly closes the file and puts it back on the pile of folders. She takes a deep breath to calm herself from the scare and resumes her stacking.

"Hello there." A male voice says. Nina turns to see Lars, in a white button shirt and black formal pants and shoes.

She doesn't answer, and simply looks to the pile again. Lars breaks the silence again. "I think you should read your file."

Nina frowns and looks at him. "You deserve to know about yourself, that's all." Lars says in a defensive manner.

Nina silently ponders, and then gets the file again. She opens it and starts reading it from where she stopped.

 _Born and raised in Dublin. Her father, Richard Williams, was an Irish assassin, while her mother, Margaret Williams, was a British Aikido champion. She learned her skills from both of her parents._

 _After the announcement of the First King of Iron Fist Tournament, the Irish Mafia drugged her in order to make her assassinate Heihachi Mishima, which led to her participation in the competition._

Scenes of the occasion cross her mind. Nina puts the file down for a second. "I'm not sure if I can do this." She mutters with closed eyes.

Lars puts a hand on her left shoulder and speaks in a dismissive and casual manner. "You're Nina Williams. You can do anything." He then proceeds to look up for a file as Nina goes back to reading her own.

 _By the time of the second tournament, Mishima Zaibatsu's then-CEO Kazuya Mishima anonymously hired her to assassinate him only in order to attract her back to the tournament and capture her for cryogenic sleep purposes._

Nina gasps. _I can't believe this_ , she thinks. Lars seems to be reading a file as well, but she pays no mind and keeps reading her own.

 _Kazuya's intentions were to make genetic tests to see if genes can influence on fighting skills on humans, after Doctor Gepetto Bosconovitch had positive results on a_ _Macropus rufus_ _(red kangaroo) named Roger and a genetically cloned_ _Dromaeosaurus albertensis (dinosaur) named Alex. However, the studies were not started because Kazuya lost his post as CEO at the conclusion of the second tournament, following his death._

 _Instead, Nina underwent studies regarding the Devil Gene under the orders of Heihachi Mishima, the new CEO. Most files regarding these studies have been destroyed after the establishment of a cinis protocol. One of the only known information is that it generated Subject NT01, Nina Williams' son via in vitro fertilization, discarded at age 6._

Nina breathes deeply, letting everything sink in. She looks to Lars, who seems to be thinking deeply. With a quick look, she sees that he is reading Alisa Bosconovitch's file. She raises an eyebrow, but then turns her attention back to the file on her hands.

 _The studies regarding the Devil Gene were unsuccessful. However, many developments were made in cold sleep field, which would later be defining points in the creation of Alisa Bosconovitch._

Nina gasps again and looks to Lars, who's on the other side of the table. Sensing that he's being stared at, he looks to Nina. He looks to be trying to let astonishing information sink in as well. "Did you know this?" She asks.

He moves Alisa Bosconovitch's file a bit upwards, as to show that he is just reading about it now.

Nina shakes her head and keeps reading the file.

 _The Williams sisters were mysteriously self-awakened after 19 years. Although Anna showed no signs of trauma, Nina suffered of memory loss. It is believed that was the reason regarding her entrance in the Third King of Iron Fist Tournament._

 _Not really_ , Nina thinks. She smiles faintly. _This part I remember clearly._ The smile goes away, and is replaced by a sad expression. _Ogre possessed me in order to kill Jin Kazama. I don't believe he knows about it, though. And it felt unnecessary to tell him since those had never been my real intentions; only Ogre's._ She reasons with herself. _When he defeated me in the tournament, little does he know that it awakened me from the possession. And then that's when I realized I had a memory loss, and I sought after Anna._

Since she knows what happened from the third tournament onwards, she closes the file and puts it on the pile. She looks to Lars who seems to be in a mix of hurt and surprise. Although it is not usual of Nina being this curious, she asks him nonetheless. "What is it?"

Lars seems to have difficulty to say it, but then spits it out. "Alisa Bosconovitch," He starts. "I mean, the human one," he corrects himself quickly. "Died because a truck ran over her." Nina shivers and silence falls in the room.

"I presume she doesn't know about that." Nina says, more in the tone of a question, referring to the android one.

"I don't think so." Lars answers. "Maybe she knows she was created based on Doctor B's daughter, but I don't think she knows how she died, or even if she has died."

Nina nods in agreement and proceeds to put the rest of the files on the table. Lars puts Alisa's file in there as well and then asks. "Why is this all for?" Lars makes a pause. "Jin?"

Nina simply nods and continues. "Do you have my file in there?" He asks.

Nina thinks for a second, and then answers. "I think it's on the pile already."

"Can I?" He says, pointing to the pile. Nina simply shrugs as an answer, and he starts looking for it.

Nina keeps taking the files to put on the pile. _Roger, Roger Jr., Sergei Dragunov…_ Her eyes get stuck on the following file. It reads ' _Steve Fox_ '. She takes a brief look at Lars from the corner of her eye. It seems Lars has just found what he was looking for, and he opens it with no ceremony. Nina decides to follow suit. She skips the charts containing full name, age, height and others, and goes directly to his resumed biography.

 _Steve Fox was born at the Mishima Zaibatsu's Genetic Research Facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to surrogate mother Doctor Emma Kliesen._

Nina chokes with her own saliva. _What?!_ Lars seems to percept her strange behavior, but decides not to interfere. Nina takes a good breath and goes back to reading.

 _His biological parents are Nina Williams, Irish assassin and fighter, and Christopher Hill, a Canadian policeman who made an anonymous donation to Canada's national sperm bank at the time._

Nina thinks for a second. _So… Steve's father is just a random donator. That's… odd, at least._ She sighs. _At least he's not the son of someone… bad._ She shivers at the thought of thinking Steve could be her son with someone like Kazuya or Heihachi. She resumes her reading.

 _The fertilized egg, however, was manipulated as an attempt to artificially create a form of the Devil Gene. But it proved out to be a failure, since Fox had no expression of the experimental gene at all. However, it was decided to keep him to be used as a test subject for further studies._

Nina stops as she hears Lars crying silently. She looks at him with a understanding look, something not usual of her. She can imagine what kind of atrocity he may have read, after all, she is reading a few of the ones that have happened to her and to Steve. Lars sees it and nods at her, but continues crying. Silently sighing, Nina goes back to reading.

 _Another experimental forms of the Devil Gene were tried on Fox, but none of them worked. The scar on his left arm is the result of excessive exposition to instable experimental artificially created genes. When he was 6 years old, he was declared dead by Doctor Emma Kliesen shortly before she was reassigned. Years later, however, it would be found out that he was transferred to an orphanage in London, England, United Kingdom. There, he was adopted by Amanda and John Fox at age 7, and raised in Liverpool._

 _I didn't know he had been adopted_ , she thinks. _But it's good to know he had a peaceful childhood._ She looks away for a second, and then fixes her eyes on the paper again.

 _He grew up training boxing arts, and eventually became the middleweight world champion. In an occasion, the British Mafia ordered him to lose a certain fight because of money purposes, since many bets were involved. However, he won it nonetheless, and had a price put on his head. He fled to the United States of America and lived hiding. Realizing that the Mafia would catch him no matter what, he decided to have a last moment on the limelight and entered the Fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament._

 _The British Mafia eventually hired assassin Nina Williams to kill him. But, during the tournament, Williams found out about their blood relation and decided not to do it._

Nina sighs.

 _After Williams gave up on assassinating Fox, the British Mafia stopped tracking him. Later, Steve entered the fifth tournament with intentions of stopping the Zaibatsu from making any more genetic experimentation. Although he did not win, he found out about Mishima Zaibatsu's Genetic Research Facility in Vancouver and destroyed it._

 _He then attempted to go back to the world of boxing, but with the war that erupted around the world, he wasn't able to. Upon receiving an invitation from Marshall Law and Paul Phoenix, fellow competitors, he flew to Los Angeles, California, United States of America to train with them, aiming the sixth tournament._

Nina raises an eyebrow by reading Paul Phoenix's name. A few flashes of him flirting with her back in the day on the first and second tournaments cross her mind. She wonders _what could have been… if…_ She shakes her head violently at the thought. _This is not the time for thinking about such thing. Actually, it's never the time._

She closes the file and puts it on the pile, and resumes putting all the files on the table. Lars is nowhere to be seen, and his file is the first of the pile.

 _I have no doubt horrors of similar fashion are on his file. I don't even need to read it to know it._

 **…**

Lars is sitting in the edge of the sun lounger, looking to the pool. The soft wind disturbs the water and the faint light of the garden illumination makes the transparent liquid sparkle, contrasting with the dark night. He is in an outside living area, surrounded by one of the many gardens within the Mishima Estate.

And with 'estate', the meaning is literal: the Mishima Estate is really a country now, and that's one of the reasons that the world war erupted. The area of the estate is of about 150 km², which is approximately pretty much the size of Liechtenstein, and it is fully surrounded by Japan.

This place in which Lars is right now is an outdoor pool area consisting of a main swimming pool surrounded by light-veined Vermont marble statues and colonnades inspired by Ancient Greece. The flooring and side walls of the swimming pool are turquoise, but the floor specifically contains navy blue tiles making a simplistic geometrical mosaic art.

Lars is not crying anymore, but he is deep in thought. _He never loved my mother… He only saw someone else on her. I've always thought my mother had been the one to dump him. I can't believe this. And how my mother managed… to love such a…_ She shakes his head violently. _I just don't know, I just don't know…_ He sighs. _For three months, he made her mind. And made his own. My mother was fallen for him, and he was decided to leave._ He passes both his hand through his head rapidly. _Now I have no doubts of why she insisted that I joined the Tekken army when I turned 18. She knew her time was coming and she knew it was the only way for me to get closer to… him. Because he would never come back._

"Lars?" A sweet whisper faintly echoes in the wind.

He upped his gaze while turning his head to the right, from where the sound came from. His eyes are now fixed in the young girl who's beside him, wearing a thistle-colored strap floor-length dress and white pearl earrings. Her medium pink Marilyn Monroe hairstyle still manages to be vivid, even at night, although there is the outdoor lighting to help.

"Alisa." He says in his best effort to answer her affection, but only manages to compensate the sadness he is feeling and sound emotionless.

"What is the matter?" She says, full of concern on her voice and face.

Lars turns his gaze back to the pool and sighs deeply, keeping himself silent. Alisa then sits on the sun lounger beside him and puts her left hand on his right shoulder. She touches him like he would have shattered if it had been any harder. Lars turns to see the source of the warmth. He can feel it even through his white button shirt. He slightly raises an eyebrow to see Alisa is gloveless; it's the first time he sees her without the accessory.

Lars smiles faintly at her, and grabs her left hand with his own left hand, taking it out of his shoulder and holding it in the air between them. "It's nothing. Nothing that can be changed, at least. It's in the past, done and gone." He says calmly but sadly, looking to their motionless hands.

Alisa brings her other hand to his. The wind lifts her hair up slightly as she speaks in equal low volume. "The past doesn't define the future." Her voice sounds like music in his ears. He turns his gaze to her, looking intently to her big round green eyes full of empathy.

He stops to reflect about her words. And then to analyze her porcelain face. He feels bad to see it contains concern for him. "There's no need to worry." He whispers, caressing her cheek with his right hand. Her expression softens, changing to a look he has never seem on her before. _Is that… passion?_ Her eyes ask for what she can't express in words. Little does she know that Lars wishes the same thing.

Lars leans forward very slowly, his eyes burning on hers. When Alisa corresponds the movement, he continues his own. As the gap between them gets smaller, their eyes gradually close. Their lips slowly meet, and it feels like the world has stopped only for this moment. The ardor is immediate. Both have been wanting this for too long, but were unsure of the nature of their own feelings for each other. But things couldn't be clearer now.

* * *

 _[Day 5]_

 _Friday, 21:17 UTC (16:17 in local time)  
New York City, New York, United States Of America_

Paul is sitting alone on a stool by the bar counter. He has just come from his mother's burial. His head is filled with depressive thoughts, and his stomach filled with whisky shots.

The pub is quite small, and looks very rustic and old fashioned. Everything is wooden, and there is a huge liquor cabinet behind the bar counter, coordinated by the bartender.

Paul is wearing the same black leather biker clothes he usually does. He left all his belongings at Marshall's home and took the first flight to NYC, his hometown.

 _What am I going to do with my life?_ , he thinks. _Who am I kidding? I'm nothing. No woman, no kids, and now no family left. And I'm not the toughest fighter in the world. Maybe some good 20 years ago, but not today_. He sighs as he swallows his drink in one gulp _. I even had a draw with that goddamn Kazuya. A draw!_ He brings his fist hard on the counter. _Now I can barely win over Kuma, that stupid fluffy bear_. He waves for the barman, asking for another shot. _And all of these years, I've been away from the last family I had. Even if we had our differences, she was still my mother._ The barman fills up his cup. _But now it's over. The past is gone._ He expires slowly as he closes his eyes from a second. _I have to stop with all this negativity. Yes, my mother and I had our differences, but she never denied she was proud of me. She was the only one who always thought I'm the toughest fighter in the world. And I have to live up for that. Now, if I don't believe on myself, who will?_ He opens his eyes and finishes his glass in a single gulp. He breathes deeply. _It's never too late. I can do it. I am Paul Phoenix and I am the toughest fighter in the world!_

He stands, takes some money out of his back pocket and puts it on the counter. He leaves the pub, and after a couple of minutes of walking, he enters in a telephone booth.

"Hello, who is this?" A male voice says after four or five rings.

"Marshall?" Paul says.

"Paul!" Marshall exclaims.

"Can you take my things to Florida with you? I'll be taking a flight directly to Miami."

"Yeah, sure!" He answers. "Are you okay?" Marshall asks, concerned.

"I'm better than I've ever been in years." Paul says, smiling faintly to himself. "Well, this is it. I see you Miami. Goodbye." He hangs up before Marshall is able to answer.

Leaving the telephone booth, he walks through the sidewalk. He hears some noise in a back alley to see five men surrounding a fat man in a dead-end. Feeling this might not be a good thing, Paul hides behind some dumpsters and spies.

"Come on in you all!" The fat man screams. "Not like I haven't fought gangs before!"

"Oh, is that so?" One of the men of the gang says. "Bad thing we're not here to fight." As he says this, everybody pull up a gun.

The fat man puts his hands up, and although he seems determined, it's obvious that there is no way out. _This is my cue_ , Paul thinks. He silently stands and gives a roundhouse kick on the man who was talking, which ends up also hitting the guy who was on his left side. As he did so, the fat man crouches and took other too men from their feet. However, the fifth men was not attacked, so he started shooting, in a panic reaction. Paul simply performs a Hammer Punch followed by his classic Power Punch on the man. The man flies backwards, and Paul focuses on the other two men he had put down before.

Together, after some minutes, Paul and the fat man bring them all down. With their hands on their knees, they breathe hard and eye each other, without saying a word. The only noise is their hard breathing and the buzzing coming from the cars in the streets.

"Paul Phoenix." He introduces himself and extends his arm.

The fat man frowns. "Paul Phoenix? Like, _the_ Paul Phoenix, the one from the King of Iron Fist?"

"Yeah." Paul says with a confused expression, his right hand still hanging in the air.

"Oh my God!" The fat man says excitedly and shakes Paul's hand quite too much. "Damn, dude, I'm your number one fan!" Paul simply frowns. "I've grown up hearing your name in every corner of these streets!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, the old bar owners would always talk about 'the old times' and mention your name!" He says excitedly. "Oh, by the way, I'm Robert Richards, but call me Bob."

"Nice to meet you, dude." Paul says, smiling sympathetically, and they finally stop shaking hands.

"I even entered the Tekken tournament myself!"

Paul raises an eyebrow, amused. "Really?"

"Yes!" Bob answers. "I entered in the sixth tournament." He makes a pause. "Didn't win it, though." He says, frustrated.

"Neither did I." Paul shrugs in a dismissive manner. "There's always the next tournament. As far as you do your best, it's already worth it."

Bob smiles to him. "I guess you're right."

"Besides, deep inside, I think it's better not to win, though." Paul continues. "I'm not sure if getting into that family shit is a good thing." Both laugh.

"I guess the better is to take second or third place?" Bob says.

"See? You already got the spirit of the thing!" Paul exclaims.

They start leaving the alley side by side. "Hey, what about a drink?" Bob asks.

"Nah man, I'm good." Paul answers. "By the way, I have to take a flight."

"Oh." Bob says, visibly disappointed.

"Why don't you join me?" Paul asks. "I'm going to Miami, train with some friends of mine on our dojo. I'm sure they'll like you."

Bob looks to him with childlike eyes. "Are you serious?!"

"Sure." Paul says casually.

"Woo-hoo!" Bob celebrates to himself.

"Come on, help me get a cab." Paul says as he starts looking to the busy street, ready to wave for any taxi that may show up.

* * *

 _[Day 5]_

 _Friday, 22:13 UTC (16:13 in local time)  
Somewhere in Campeche, México_

"Jasmine, I really have to hang up now." Zafina says, controlling the urge to cry. "I wish I could talk to everybody, but there's no time for that. Besides, I don't think my heart would handle it."

"Oh, Zafina." Jasmine says between sobs on the other line.

"Please. Just tell them I've called and that I miss them already."

"Are you sure you're going to be fine?" Jasmine asks with worry on her voice.

 _No_. "Yes. Everything is going to be fine. Soon I'll be back home. You'll see."

"We miss you." Jasmine cries on the other side of the line.

"I miss you all too. I have to hang up. Good bye. Kiss my little cousins for me!" Zafina says, and hangs up before it gets too painful.

A hand is put on her shoulder, and she looks to the person who did it. She smiles warmly to the fellow volunteer and nods, wiping some stubborn tears away. Right now, the most courageous (and probably suicidal) volunteers have been sent to an instable area, after reports of a fire that has taken place.

 _Well, the reports were definitely right_ , she thinks. They were surrounded by burned wreckages and black ashes floated in the heavy air. The skies are massively grey, although the storm has stopped for now.

They're riding a few jeeps through the area, and one by one, people who were hiding behind the forests nearby start to run the direction of the volunteers. Mothers with their children, old people, injured men, and more. It's a heartbreaking thing. Many people have serious burns, many have scratches acquired along the escape. Each and every person that approaches the jeeps are comfortably put inside, but occupying the minimum space possible so they can rescue more people.

As the time pass slowly, the jeeps start to get full, and one by one they leave, heading back an improvised airplane runway in the middle of the fields. Zafina is helping a pregnant woman to get up on the jeep, the only jeep that's still there, when she hears a loud maniacal laugh coming from the forests. She looks to where she presumes the laugh has come from, but sees nothing. She starts walking back to get in the front passenger seat when a loud noise is heard, followed by the screams of everybody who's inside the jeep.

Zafina turns to the forest again to see a tall and strong man of pale greyish skin. His hair is short and grey, but doesn't seem to be because of age, since the man looks like he's on his early 30s. He's probably around 185 cm tall and is shirtless, exposing many scratches on his skin. He is wearing navy blue combat pants, leather black boots, black fighting gloves and some sort of red bandana tied up on his left arm. By the look of the red fabric, it doesn't seem like he has been shot, since it is too loosen and looks clean of any blood, so it is most likely an accessory. There are many types of belts around his legs to carry ammunition, but all of them are empty, and it seems he has no guns as well.

"Zafina!" The volunteer screams inside the jeep.

"Run!" Zafina screams back, on the top of the lungs.

"But Zaf-" The volunteer starts screaming.

"RUN!"

The following noise is of the jeep going away as fast as possible. Zafina is left alone, facing the weird man in front of her. Both eye each other from head to toe as the violent wind moves the dark green trees and makes the greyish sand and the black ashes rise.

After a long minute of tense silence, the man smirks and speaks. "It seems like we have a peace keeper here."

Zafina frowns angrily. "Who are you?" She asks in a growl.

The man emits his maniacal laughter. "The real question here is who _you_ are."

There is another long minute of tense silence. Tired of this, the man gets on a fighting stance. Zafina follows suit. The man raises an eyebrow, expression quickly replaced by a smirk.

Taking Zafina off guard, he gets closer rapidly and attacks first. He brings his left fist to her face, then the right leg. He brings it back to the ground spinning, and now with his back facing her, he brings his right fist to her face again, as he spins once more to bring his other fist to her face and complete the move with a more powerful punch of the right hand again, making a Lair's Dance. She flies backwards.

"My name is Bryan Fury." He screams in a growl that makes Zafina's one sound like a domestic cat. "And these are my fists!"

He starts to run in her direction, but she quickly gets up and performs a Kapara, taking him off his feet. He quickly stands up and gives her a roundhouse kick followed by series of punches, sending her spinning in the air. Tired of being sent flying backwards, she decides it's her turn to so. However, he's already running full speed towards her, so she has not much time to do an elaborate move, so she simply hits him with her Scarecrow Side Kick, sending him backwards.

Bryan gives the most infuriated sigh in the history of mankind as he gets up. However, Zafina is not stupid to give him enough time to attack her again, and seeing how disoriented he has gotten, she decides to push him backwards again. She goes to his direction and performs a Gugal-Ana, a move consisting of simply pushing the opponent backwards with two hands, bringing together all the strength possible.

Fuming, Bryan rolls backwards. However, he decides to show his opponent the opposite reaction. "Is this all you can do?!" He screams, mocking her. Zafina narrows her eyes and instantly charges at him full speed, performing series of combos. Bryan wasn't expecting nothing this fast, so he is hit at a first moment.

However, in the middle of a combo, he crouches and performs a Right Upper, rising his right fist and bringing it to her stomach. But the move doesn't stop by there. With his hand still on her belly, he brings her to the other side and smashes her on the ground with all strength he can, making the Fisherman's Stam. As she bounces from the impact, he gives another maniacal laughter.

"I guess this answers my question." He says in his raspy creepy voice as she struggles to get up. _He may be strong, but he is not fast as I am_ , she thinks. _It might work on my side if I use it right._

This time, Bryan approaches her more cautiously. He seems to be studying her for the first time. He's probably surprised to see she has survived all his attacks so far. Probably, most people would have already fallen unconscious. But Zafina is not weak. She may not be as strong as he is, but that doesn't make her weak. In a millisecond, she has already come with the perfect strategy. She starts attacking, giving him no time to actually study her, as she performs the Pukku with two kicks of her two legs, being a high one followed by a low one. The move doesn't send him flying, but still takes his balance. Before he's able to restore it, she performs the Mikku, a move of similar fashion, but performed with a leg and a hand. She then performs the Kur, hitting his stomach with all her strength. She feels like she has done no damage, because his belly was as hard as a rock. However, he puts an arm over it and slowly falls, proving that Zafina was wrong.

A smirk makes itself present on Zafina's face as she charges at him again, not letting him fall. She starts doing the series of combos she had done before. However, this time, he is in the air, and he's simply not able to defend himself. The last hit sends him flying away and he hits his back hard on a tree, and then he falls with his face flat on the ground.

This time, Bryan a little longer to get up. However, Zafina is just as tired, so she takes the opportunity to catch a breath. As both make a pause, Bryan speaks. "Who sent you?"

Zafina frowns and answers. "Nobody."

Bryan lets an ironic chuckle escape from his lips. "Don't play dumb with me." He says, giving her a death stare as he gets up.

Zafina simply stares back at him in the meanest way she can. "Who sent _you_?"

He chuckles ironically again. "Myself."

"Why?"

"Because I like it." He slowly gets into his fighting stance.

Zafina gets on her own fighting stance as well. "But I don't."

They battle for more several minutes, up to an hour. Bryan may be a cyborg, but he has already been using his energy at full capacity in the last couple of days, destroying everything he would find negligible enough, so he is quite weary. Zafina is a skilled fighter, but is just as human as anybody else and feels the effects of pain and tiredness. None of them is able to give too powerful hits anymore, so nobody has been knocked out yet.

Blood is coming out of Zafina's mouth and nose, besides the many scratches and bruises over her body. She feels like she's going to vomit at any time, thanks to the many hits executed on her stomach. She is also covered in dirt, because of the sand and the ashes of the ground and the surroundings.

Bryan is not looking and feeling very different from Zafina. Instead of blood, however, his mouth and nose are covered in his own oil. The scratches and bruises on his body expose the metallic structure under his skin. His systems, which would be the equivalent to his brain, are failing because he has been hit many times on the head, not only because of Zafina, but also on the times he would fall on the ground or collapse on a nearby tree.

This time, Zafina is on the ground, struggling to get up. She is surprised with the fact that Bryan hasn't attacked her yet. However, when she gets up, she understand why. He is immobilized on the ground, with a man sitting above him, who's giving innumerous punches on Bryan's face. After some good hits, the man puts his hand under his jacket and gets some sort of gun. The man stops touching Bryan, but is still crouched above him, and connects the gun to Bryan's neck. He is electrocuting Bryan.

Zafina gets up, but she's not sure if she should get into her fighting stance. So far, the mysterious man has technically helped her. She decides to look off guard, when in fact her guard is completely on and waits to see what will follow.

The man kept the electrocuting Bryan for about 5 seconds, and then got up, putting the gun back on his inside pocket. Bryan is unconscious on the ground. The man turns to her and starts walking towards her. When Zafina takes a step back, he stops.

The man has pale white skin, pale blue eyes and pitch black hair. He looks like a ghost. It is hard to deduce how old he is, but he could be on his mid-20s. He is wearing dark greenish brown military clothes with black leather gloves and boots. There is a small Russian flag on his uniform.

He nods at her, and then leaves.

* * *

 _[Day 5]_

 _Friday, 23:01 UTC (18:01 in local time)  
Somewhere in the State of Amazonas, Brasil_

Trees, trees and more trees. The impression is that one is not moving at all, even after hours of walking. This is exactly what Julia is feeling right now. Since they've started the expedition, there have been almost no moments of pause. It has been practically non-stop. Everybody on the team is following Kazuya. _No wonder why nobody has stopped_ , she thinks. _The guy is almost superhuman. Oh, wait, he is superhuman._ She sighs.

Everybody is visibly tired and sweating like a pig. Kazuya is the first in line, followed by a guard. Julia is the third in the line, followed by two scientists, and then half a dozen guards. Everybody is wearing the same clothes: military black boots, pants with military print and olive-colored T-shirts. Julia's hair, specifically, is on her usual single braid, but this time she's wearing no feathers to avoid any sort of misunderstanding with the natives of the area. After all, they're on a war field.

They've already gone through many conflicts in here. They didn't take part, of course. They only took different paths to surround them, but Kazuya would made sure to watch them for a little bit first. Julia doesn't know why, and something inside her is saying that the treasure might be being carried by one of the warriors. If she was carrying her own treasure right now, why wouldn't they be carrying their treasure? She knew it was risky to bring the pendant with her, but it was riskier to leave it alone on G Corporation's headquarters. But she was sure nothing would happen to it.

Little does she know about what is going on inside Kazuya's mind. The Devil was… quite energetic. **Just like the old times, huh?** , the Devil says inside Kazuya's mind, followed by a maniacal laughter.

 _Can you stop already?_ , Kazuya answers. _I'm trying to focus._

 **I've already told you, there's something keeping me awake.** The Devil answers. **Not that I care about it, though. To me, it makes no difference.**

 _But to me it does. You're annoying me._ The Devil simply laughs. _I'm trying to focus on a task that interests both of us. So if I were you, I wouldn't be laughing like that. I would keep myself quiet._ The Devil doesn't answer. _Anyway, if you've been awakened, it could mean we're close._

An image of the Devil smirking crosses Kazuya's mind. **Soon, we will be enjoying even greater power.** Kazuya smirks to himself. _Soon._

 **End of Chapter 5**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Chapter 5! _YAASSS!_ 8900 words. :) Sorry about making you wait for so long.

Introducing: Devil (Kazuya), Bryan Fury, Bob, Roger (mentioned), Alex (mentioned), and Sergei Dragunov _(since he dislikes talking, he wasn't able to introduce himself, since I need to stick to his personality… but he was the man who electrocuted Bryan, I assure you)_

And also: Richard and Margaret Williams (Nina and Anna's parents – Richard is really his name in Death by Degrees, mother's name by me); Amanda and John Fox (Steve's adoptive parents, names by me); Christopher Hill (Steve's biological father, name by me).

About Nina's wedding gown, it is exactly what inspired me to start writing this chapter so fast (ironic, because it had caused the opposite previously...). I woke up in the following day with an idea of how to handle the situation and keep the storyline in the way I had planned before.

And about Lars and Alisa's kiss… _owww…_ how beautiful. I just didn't describe it further _(if you know what I mean, hehe)_ because I was quite uncomfortable with the idea, and I'm not sure 'til what point the current rating allows me to detail such a thing. I hope it was good to read nonetheless.

I've put places like Vancouver and Liverpool just to make things more diverse. (I think you guys already got that I love exploring about different places around the world, _eh_? :P)

 ***ANSWERING*** ZZ Eclipse – Thank you _very very very_ much! By the way, I'll start trying to answer all reviews through here. Thanks for the kindness, it's good to know I've described Asuka well. And yes, I genuinely might give Josie/Miguel a chance, I'm still pondering about which direction to give to some characters, so it really might be possible.

Reibun – _Thaaaank_ you! _Aww_ , you're the one who's sweet! Really, I mean, you're actually taking your time to read my crap, that's got to be the sweetest thing ever, lol. And it's very good to know I'm dealing correctly with Asuka. About Zafina, well, she's definitely not a 'creepy lady', and YAASSS, she needs much more love from other fans. But her mystical side is one of the things I most love about her actually, so I have no complaints about that :P. And Paul deserves to have some feelings, really. I like his toughness, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a heart (differently of Nina, I guess lol). And, well, Eddy being a chubby boy is the best way I found to justify Namco's stupid name choice :P. And YAASSS, globe-hopping is the primary reason for this fanfic to even exist! I'm a bitch for tourism. \o/

Raptor – Hey there! I have not given up on this story and I can assure I will finish it (eventually :P). I'm not the kind of person to leave things uncomplete - if I've taken the responsibility, I _will_ do it. The thing is that I'm a senior now and I have less time to write/update. The first chapters were faster because here in my country it was still summer vacation. But thanks for the concern and I'm very happy to know it is one of your favorites! S2

Thank you **very** much and see you next time!  
 _(what goddamn long notes – do you guys actually read my blabbering?)_


	6. Pulling Strings

_[LEONARDO DICAPRIO WON AN OSCAR – I WAS THERE]_

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter Six: Pulling Strings**

 _[Day 6]_

 _Saturday, 01:45 UTC (10:45 in local time)  
Tokyo, Japan_

"Tell me, Jin, how is your… _mind?_ " Anthony asks. He is wearing black shirt and pants, although his doctor coat is as white as always. Sitting on a black chair with casters by Jin's office desk, instead of facing his boss on the other side of the desk, he has turned it to watch Jin adjust his bowtie in the mirror on the other side of the room. Anthony is holding a clipboard, making a full medical analysis of Jin's current state.

"Clear." Jin answers, looking to the doctor through the mirror, sounding as firm as he usually does. Staring at himself one last time, he turns and sits on the chair beside Anthony rather than in his own chair by the other side of the desk, turning it to face the doctor.

"Can you recall your thoughts of while you were in the coma?" Anthony continues the questionnaire. Everything in the room is made of dark brown wood of different tones - the desk, the chairs, the floor, the nearby corner tables. The decoration includes porcelain vases, small sculptures and glass finery.

Jin blinks, and then answers. "Is this really necessary?" He shows no reluctance, annoyance nor any another emotion in his voice.

"I need to determine how clear your mind is."

Jin narrows his eyes so slightly that Anthony only percepts it when Jin goes back to a relaxed expression, after a couple of silent seconds. "Fine." He says. "I relived my childhood."

Anthony simply answers "I see." as he finishes his notes. He decides not to ask for details, now that he has realized Jin's experience was something rather personal. Not that he needed many more details, actually. He stands up and clicks his pen. "This is all."

Jin stands up as well and makes a sign with his palm to show the door. Anthony leaves, and Jin follows. Closing the door shut behind, Jin nods to Anthony as to show he is dismissed and the doctor leaves through the left side of the corridor, while Jin goes through the right.

His dark olive green coat and pants, matching with black shoes, contrast with the dim grey of his button shirt and his skin. His black bangs dance in front of his eyes as he walks towards the elevator. Reaching ground floor and leaving the Zaibatsu headquarters, there is a black car waiting for him, the chauffeur holding its back door wide open, waiting solely for Jin's arrival.

As he gets in, the car rides through the many streets, with many different kinds of buildings around, although the surroundings are mostly green gardens full of pink and yellowish orange chrysanthemums with mystic stone fountains and rustic benches every now and then. It takes about 5 minutes to reach the destination, where the motorist opens the door for Jin again, and he gets into the Third Island Amphitheatre within the Mishima Estate.

The building's architectural style is Baroque revival, with light goldenrod-colored walls, sienna brown details and a crimson red roof. As expected, the fanciness is excessive, with diverse sculptures, mirrors and chandeliers over marble floor and stone walls. Jin courses his way through a few carpeted corridors and staircases until he gets on the backstage of the main stage, where everybody starts doing everything faster upon sensing his presence.

People working on illumination, cameras, makeup, clothes, and more are walking across the room, making sure every single detail is the closest as possible to perfection. A male worker, who's very short and visibly frightened, comes to Jin's assistance. The man is wearing all black clothes, just as most people here, but he seems like some sort of creative director, because he is holding a clipboard and wearing a headset.

"I'm Aki." The man says as he bows and signals for Jin to follow him. Jin keeps himself silent, with his usual incessant dark grim on his face. They don't walk much until they reach two familiar people who seem to be in a conversation. Actually, only one of them is talking. A medium-height young woman of pink hair is speaking, while a cold short blonde woman of icy blue eyes is listening with a vague expression, although she is involved with the talking.

Jin nods to them as he approaches the duo, who nod back also silently. Jin then nods to Aki as to show he is dismissed. "I'll be back when it's time to go to the stage." Aki says and bows, leaving quickly.

Alisa is with her Marilyn Monroe styled curly hair, and she is dressed simply on a white strap dress with very light pink flowers on the print, going until half her calves, accompanied by flat shoes and elbow-length gloves of the same pink.

Nina, instead of her usual simple ponytail, is wearing a sophisticated bun and small silver hoop earrings. Her dress is a simple black piece that covers her from the shoulders to the feet, where she wears black stilettos. This is probably the most covered cloth she has ever wore, in which only her arms are exposed. The makeup of both ladies is minimal and both still look very natural.

Nina would never admit, but she's actually nervous. Even though a stubborn cold sweat is on her forehead right now, she's not showcasing her emotions, as she has done all her life. Actually, not because she actually has something to hide (at least in this very moment), but rather because emotions are for children – or at least that's how she sees things.

Alisa, even though functioning mostly as a human being, is still an android regardless, and her system's primary efforts are always to fulfill the task at hand, whatever it may be – public speeches also included, after all, there's no reason for Alisa not to be able to do such a thing.

Jin, as usual, simply couldn't care less. All the events that take place in a day of his life have become mere obstacles to what he actually cares about: ridding Earth of the Devil.

"Is Lars at the tower?" Jin throws out the question to none of them in particular, the 'tower' being Zaibatsu's main building.

"Yes, as you've requested." Alisa responds automatically.

"Your other request is already on your office." Nina says in a discreet tone. Jin nods to her. If Alisa hadn't been an android, her millisecond curiosity would have most likely lasted much longer.

" _Two minutes, everyone!_ " Aki screams in the background. Some seconds later, the same voice is heard, this time in a normal volume and closer to the trio. "Are you ready?"

"As always." Alisa answers with a smile, on her usual positive tone. Nina keeps herself serious and silent, simply nodding once. It is a necessary evil, after all, and she has learned to accept such things through her life; so has Jin – who simply doesn't bother answering the man's question.

"Please follow me." Nobody says anything, so Aki simply turns and walks towards the curtain, followed by the three. They stop on a corner beside the curtain. "When that light goes green," he points to a small red lamp on the wall behind them. "You get in." He tells Alisa.

She nods smiling. Aki briefly smiles back, bows to everyone and leaves them alone again.

After some seconds, the light goes green, and Alisa nods to Jin and Nina one last time as the curtains open. Alisa walks away from the corner, and the people applaud as she gets onstage. This is basically a live show being broadcast on TV worldwide, watched not only by millions of people, but most importantly a very select group of enemies. Through this spectacle, they aim to portray the Zaibatsu as a company that is willing to repair its own mistakes.

The crowd is mostly composed of Tekken soldiers dressed with black tuxedos and dresses, but the front rows are being occupied by very important people, the only ones who agreed to ally themselves with the Zaibatsu, even after the war it caused.

Basically, leaders of West European countries who fear the potential growth of the Arab world are here, besides Cuba and North Korea, classical allies. India and China are extras, ' _courtesy of The Agency_ ', in Robyn's own words through the phone. All of those countries also intent to stop USA's actions around the world. After the Zaibatsu declared peace, the USA took the role of the big villain – they are not only one hundred percent active in south Mexico, but financing many specific groups in many civil wars around the world, all according to their interests, as they usually do.

Another extra is Japan. Although they disagree with the Zaibatsu's actions just as anybody else, it is either this or aligning themselves with the one responsible for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki incidents and many other atrocities, and they definitely don't want such a thing. They still have a lot of, let's say, 'resentment' towards the USA. Besides, the Mishima Estate is surrounded by Japan, which means if a country wants to destroy the Zaibatsu, it will also destroy the Japanese nation in the way through.

Alisa introduces herself and speaks about how the Zaibatsu is willing to repair its own mistakes, giving full support to countries in need, followed by a speech of admiration about the allies who are present tonight. Scenes of Tekken soldiers arriving at allied territories with medical support are shown in a screen, and people applaud as the videos change from country to country, although the Zaibatsu would never admit that the amount of soldiers on the war fields is minimal compared to those who are still in the Mishima Estate. "Now, for a special announcement, I would like to invite Mr. Jin Kazama to the stage." Alisa says happily. The guests are clearly taken aback, but applaud nonetheless. The Tekken soldiers just keep their act.

Jin enters the stage and waves his left hand briefly for the cameras and the guests, keeping his face merciless, _as always_. The guests are taken aback once again when they see Jin's right hand is busy with another hand – the left hand of a short blond woman who looks as intimidating as him. They walk until they stop behind the wooden speech podium, which has three microphones. By this time, Alisa has already left the stage.

"Good morning to everyone." Jin speaks as Nina keeps herself silent beside him, both looking directly to the camera. "Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who's present today." He says as he eyes the first rows of the crowd. "I'm going to keep this short, but still close this with a flourish." He looks to Nina, and then to the camera. "Meet my fiancée, Ms. Nina Williams."

The crowd gasps and makes surprised noises, which quickly turn into warm applauses, louder than before as everybody gets up from their seats.

"The wedding will be held here at the Mishima Estate next Sarturday, and you all are invited." Jin continues, directed to the country leaders and their families. "Thank you everyone and have a good morning." He says and bows to the crowd, who applaud loudly again, and he leaves the stage with Nina.

The red velvet curtains close behind them as they are already backstage again, and the production workers applaud respectfully. Both have already dropped each other's hand. "Good job." Aki says to them, Alisa by his side. Jin nods, and leaves. Nina and Alisa follow him.

The exit through the back of the building, and stop beside a black car. "Nina. Entertain them for long enough." Nina nods, in one of the rare times she shows emotion on her face, this time of disdain. She goes to another black car, which is going to take her to a ballroom building where a lunch is going to be held to the guests.

"Alisa. Inform Rita she will be in charge of the ceremony details. Assist her in what is necessary." Alisa nods as Jin enters the car and it leaves.

 **…**

"Hello, Ms. Williams, it is a pleasure to meet you." The man shakes her hand happily as he speaks with a very thick accent. "Or should I say Mrs. Kazama?" He jokes and laughs, the woman by his side laughing as well. Nina chuckles only enough to make herself polite. "Congratulations for the wedding."

"Thank you very much." She says, trying to sound as positive as possible, rolling her eyes under closed eyelids. She is talking to a man and a woman who are clearly from India, thanks to the accent and their physical features. The man, who's on his late 40s or early 50s, has black hair and black eyes, and he is wearing an all-grey suit, white button shirt and burgundy necktie. By his side, the woman seems to be on her 20s, and has the same hair color, although her eyes are brown, and she is wearing a red and gold sari, besides plenty of golden jewels on her fingers, arms, ears, and even on her forehead.

"I'm Abhay Dhawan, president of India, and this is my daughter, Manisha." He says, and his daughter nods to Nina.

Nina nods back. "Nice to meet you."

The blabbering continues for some short minutes, until Nina finishes the conversation politely and walks toward the next small group of people. That continues until she has talked to all guests, and then everybody goes to the huge and luxurious dining room on the other door.

 **…**

Jin is already alone in his office again, sitting on his chair. For some long minutes, he simply stares blankly at the sky through the window wall. _Everything is going according to plan_ , he thinks as the bright blue of the heavens embrace him through his view, as if he's floating on paradise. As he closes his eyes and breathes deeply and slowly, he checks everything that needs to be done in the next few days.

Taking a last glance of the sky, he turns to face his desk, and eyes the many different names written on each of the grey folders of the piles on his desk. Wondering about where he should start, it doesn't take too long for his eyes to stop and get stuck at his mother's name. Reluctantly, he takes the folder and open it.

 _Name: Jun Kazama  
Status: Presumed dead  
Nationality: Japanese  
Height: 170 cm (as recorded from the Second King of Iron Fist Tournament)  
Weight: 54kg (as recorded from the Second King of Iron Fist Tournament)  
Blood Type: AB (as recorded from the Second King of Iron Fist Tournament)  
Fighting Style: _Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts  
 _Occupation: Wildlife Organization Officer (formerly)_

Jin already knows all of this, but he reads nonetheless. Anything about his mother is something that will catch his attention. Every single piece of information about her, known or unknown, fills his heart with nostalgia and warmth, and his soul with wistful longing and peace.

After those information charts, there are two pictures of Jun during the second tournament. In the first one, she is wearing white headband, socks and shirt, with black knee-length pants and shoes. In the second one, she is wearing light blue headband, vest and shorts with white knee-length lace-top stockings and brown shoes. She looks lovely. _Mother was very cute when she was young_. He beams to himself.

Jin never really had the chance to see old pictures of his mother, and she never told him much about her youth. And if such records ever existed, they're mere ashes now.

 _Also known as: The Chosen One, Ecological Fighter, Mama Kazama  
Species: Human  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Black  
Age: 22 (Tekken 2); 37 (at the time of Ogre's attack)  
Family: Jin Kazama (son)_

 _Nothing is known about Jun's early life besides the fact that she was born and raised in Yakushima. The circumstances of her childhood are also unknown. At some point, she moved to Tokyo and lost her connection to nature, which she compensated by joining the Wakana Wildlife Work Company (WWWC) as an officer._

 _Thanks to her duties, she entered the Second King of Iron Fist Tournament to investigate claims regarding Mishima Zaibatsu's genetic experimentation on animals. During the competition, she found out the allegations were true and that the studies resulted in a Macropus rufus (red kangaroo) named Roger and a genetically adapted Dromaeosaurus albertensis (dinosaur) named Alex._

 _Both animals were going to be killed after Kazuya Mishima, then the CEO of the Zaibatsu, disliked them. However, their creator, Doctor Gepetto Bosconovitch, freed them and the animals entered the tournament seeking survival and revenge, after being trained by Armor King. Jun was responsible for taking them out of the competition and relocating them to Australia, where they are still established._

Jin smiles as he reads those lines, an expression quickly replaced by the raise of an eyebrow at what he sees next. A picture of his mother wearing a white bathing suit and a summer hat, kneeling on the sandy ground. Michelle Chang has one of her hands on Jun's left shoulder, as she stands, although leaning slightly, wearing a brown bikini and a single braid. Nina is posing and wearing a black bathing clothes by Jun's right, although she is more distant from the two ladies. Although there is a beach in the background, there is not even a single grain of sand on their skin.

The caption reads as ' _publicity photograph of the second tournament_ '. Then it clicks on Jin's mind. The earliest tournaments had a special care for publicity. They would even record winning poses of every single competitor with a green scenario in the back, so they could use it for some of the matches that were going to be televised. As always, not all the tournament matches are broadcast, only some of the most expected by the public, usually with a few days of delay. That was to keep the progress of the competition secret to everyone, even to the fighters themselves. And besides, many matches would only come to a conclusion when one of them was almost dying, and that's not very appealing to the mass media and definitely not ethical for the sports committees, so it had to be swept under rugs.

 _After losing in the semifinals, Jun quit her job and moved back to Yakushima._

Jin raises an eyebrow again, this time higher. He didn't know his mother had reached the semifinals. He continues reading.

 _Eventually, it would become known that she raised a son there, named Jin Kazama, fathered by Kazuya Mishima. The nature of Kazuya and Jun's relationship is unknown and there are no official registers about it._

There is a soft urge to vomit on Jin's stomach as he reads this paragraph. Something that he would never understand is how his mother ended up with Kazuya. In Jin's eyes, there is nothing in this world that could justify such a thing. His mother definitely was very generous and loving, but not even that could justify such a relationship, that is, if there even was one.

Jin always end up leading himself to think it could have been rape. Although, at the same time, he thinks such possibility is simply not plausible because Jun was too strong to let such thing happen to herself. Even though Jin is a man and much probably will never face the threat of having his physical integrity violated, he knows that fighting to such integrity is the same thing as fighting for survival. So, in the end, he is never able to come with a plausible possibility, although there is always an obvious conclusion on his mind: speculating about the unknown is simply a waste.

Jin turns the page to see a detailed analysis of Jun's participation in the second tournament. The first part of the page contains a simple summary consisting of all the matches of the tournament. After it, there is deeper information about Jun's participation only. The summary reads as:

 _*Notes:  
Alex and Roger were removed from the competition before its official start._

 _ELIMINATED ON THE FIRST ROUND:_

 _*Byes: Anna Williams, Armor King, Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin, Heihachi Mishima, King, Kuma, Lee Chaolan, Lei Wulong, Marshall Law, and Nina Williams._

 _Ganryu (eliminated by Michelle Chang)  
Jack-2 (eliminated by Kazuya Mishima)  
Kunimitsu (eliminated by Yoshimitsu)_  
 _Prot. Jack (eliminated by Paul Phoenix)  
Wang Jinrei (eliminated by Jun Kazama)_

 _ELIMINATED ON THE SECOND ROUND:_

 _Nina Williams (eliminated by Anna Williams)  
Baek Doo San (eliminated by Marshall Law)  
Bruce Irvin (eliminated by Lei Wulong)  
Lee Chaolan (eliminated by Heihachi Mishima)  
Kuma (eliminated by Paul Phoenix)  
Michelle Chang (eliminated by Kazuya Mishima)  
Yoshimitsu (eliminated by Jun Kazama)  
Armor King (eliminated by King)_

 _ELIMINATED ON THE THIRD ROUND:_

 _Anna Williams (eliminated by Heihachi Mishima)  
Lei Wulong (eliminated by Jun Kazama)  
Marshall Law (eliminated by King)  
Paul Phoenix (W.O.; Kazuya Mishima declared victorious)_

 _ELIMINATED ON THE SEMIFINALS:_

 _King (eliminated by Heihachi Mishima)  
Jun Kazama (eliminated by Kazuya Mishima)_

 _FINAL RESULT:_

 _Kazuya Mishima is eliminated and Heihachi Mishima emerges victorious._

He is surprised to see his mother eliminated people like Wang Jinrei, a veteran; Yoshimitsu, a space ninja; Lei Wulong, an Interpol supercop; and most importantly, Kazuya Mishima. His mother was an amazingly skilled fighter and there were no doubts about it, but she definitely faced some of the toughest competitors.

Then, the detailed information about Jun's matches specifically comes right after. They talk about where in the world the match was held, in which date and what time, the names of the monitors, and there are pictures of the places. This is not what Jin is looking for. Actually, Jin is not looking for nothing in particular, but, for some reason, he feels like there's something to know.

In the end, the file lists Kazuya Mishima, Lei Wulong, Michelle Chang, and Wang Jinrei as Jun's acquaintances of the second tournament, but there are no details about those relationships. The page ends by there, and the following one relates what is known of Ogre's incident. Jin shivers and decides not to read it. He knows it too well.

Frustrated, Jin sighs and decides to look for something more in the virtual database. After all, these folds work almost like résumés, and the complete data is always in the computer. Maybe something interesting was left behind. Pressing a button on his high-tech telephone, a small platform elevates on his desk, with a black laptop on it. He opens it and logs in the database.

After some good minutes of research, Jin finds out an encrypted part of the second tournament's files. There, he sees that all tournament matches were recorded. _Of course they were_ , he thinks as he almost laughs about it. Regardless of television broadcast, spying on the competitors is a must of the Zaibatsu. Jin knows it himself, after all, he hosted the sixth tournament. He's very aware of how it works.

Most videos are of the matches, but there is also some recorded footage of the competitors on the hotel, the airplanes, and while they were shooting publicity on a private studio. Although the matches are around the world, all the fighters stay in the many Mishima Hotels through Tokyo and are taken by the Zaibatsu on private jets to wherever they need to fight. The fighters who have rivalry or dislike for each other are separated and stay in different hotels as to avoid conflicts outside the matches.

Jin quickly finds the video in which his mother took the beach picture, and clicks on it. It starts with Jun shooting her winning positions, surrounded by a green chroma key. She is clearly feeling out of place and doesn't really know what to do. The producers are quite impatient, but a friendly Michelle Chang comes out and suggests a pose. Jun tries to imitate it, and the producers seem to like it, so it is recorded. Jun smiles as some of them applaud quickly, and now that she has understood how it works, she comes up with another pose, one of her own. Michelle applauds it happily, and Jun blushes a bit while smiling.

One of the producers seems to have an idea, and calls both ladies to discuss it. After a moment, both reluctantly nod to him and go to another room. After a couple of minutes, they come back wearing bathing suits, and also accompanied by an icy and impatient Nina Williams. This time, the producers are attentive enough to give them some posing ideas, and they do as they're told. After a few camera shots, they girls change clothes again and leave. The video ends by there.

Jin ends up watching all other videos of his mother, although there aren't many. He keeps studying her features, gestures and behavior as if he was seeing her for the first time in his life.

There are only three hotel videos of Jun. All of them are soundless, since the source was the security cameras.

The first video starts with Lei having simply a cup of coffee and Michelle eating a frybread with a honey topping. Lei is wearing a blue kimono with black pants and shoes, while Michelle has a white shirt on, accompanied by blue jeans shorts, black shoes and zebra knee-length socks. After some two minutes, Jun steps in, wearing a white vest that covers her whole torso, combined with knee-length black pants and shoes with white socks, accompanied by white headband. She greets them and takes a seat on their table. She seems to ask Michelle about she's eating, who answers an explanation and offers Jun a bite. Jun tries it and seems to like it, and calls a waiter. A few minutes later, the same waiter brings a similar frybread to Jun. The friends keep talking happily through their meal, and keep on going with their conversation for some minutes after they have already finished eating, although Jun keeps herself silent most of the times, although clearly paying utmost attention to the talking. After a while, Jun starts getting up, and Lei says something as he follows her suit. She nods to him, and both say goodbye to Michelle and leave side by side. Michelle finishes her glass of water and leaves shortly after. The video lasts for a total of 25 minutes.

The second video is shorter. It only shows Jun talking to the hotel receptionist as some men who are clearly of the WWWC, thanks to their uniforms, are assisting Alex and Roger to the exit. Although Jun is wearing her WWWC pin on her upper garment, she is wearing casual clothes, in contrary to her fellow work colleagues – a light blue vest that shows her belly, although high-waist shorts of the same color cover her skin until the bellybutton. Her usual headband is there, this one having a little ribbon, and is of the same color of the vest and the shorts. As of shoes, she is wearing a dark brown pair of them, matched with knee-length plain white lace stockings.

The third one shows from afar Jun and Wang talking peacefully as they're sitting in a bench beside a stone fountain in the hotel's very green garden. She is wearing the same light blue outfit of the other video, but in here she has no WWWC pin. The video lasts for about 5 minutes, and finishes when both leave, going to different ways.

There are also scenes of Jun in the Zaibatsu's airplanes. On those videos, Jun is always looking through the window intently, and sometimes eating something very light, like a salad or some fruit, as she gazes outside. Also, she always seems to be in profound thought, sometimes closing her eyes and breathing deeply, in other times either slightly frowning or faintly smiling from a single corner of her lip. In a longer one, she takes a silent nap through the night for a few hours.

Jin proceeds to watch his mother's matches. She is just as skilled as he remembers from the days he sparred with her during his childhood, in the forests of Yakushima. Not even one day passes in which he doesn't think of his mother. How much he misses her is a feeling that could never be put into words.

Jun's first match was in the second round of the competition, and she fought against Wang Jinrei in Szechwan Fields, southwest China. Jun is wearing her light blue clothes, and Wang is wearing green and blue attire. Both bow to each other respectfully before they start fighting. She moves graciously, with incredible elegance, almost floating in the air as she performs quick yet strong and precise hits. Wang might be old, but his experience is vast and he's a very good fighter as well, being quite faster for his age. When Jun wins the fight, she helps Wang and both leave together.

Jun's second match is against Yoshimitsu. The fight takes place in a serene yet dark forest of northern Japan. One more time, Jun is wearing her light blue vest and shorts, and Yoshimitsu is wearing one of his usual crazy armors, this one having knee-length green shorts and some sort of hat. The two fighters bow to the other, in the same fashion Jun had done with Wang previously. Both clearly have a hard time with each other – Yoshimitsu keeps disappearing and reappearing, besides the fact that he has a weapon, and Jun's fighting style is too elaborate and fast for him to keep up with. When Yoshimitsu is defeated, Jun gets closer to help him, but he dismissively shakes his head and bows in the most respectful way possible before leaving by himself, and Jun exits going to the opposite direction.

Jun's third match is against Lei Wulong. Jun's clothes are still the same, while Lei's clothes are a blue kimono-alike shirt with black pants and shoes. Once again, Jun bows to her competitor, who also does the same. They are in some building rooftop of what seems to be Hong Kong. And one more time, things are not easy for any of the sides – their fighting styles have a very unique pace and technique. After some time, there is a perfect window for Jun to attack, and the hit is decisive. She helps her friend, despite the fact that he is clearly trying to say he's alright. He ends up letting her help him and both leave.

Intrigued and curious, Jin starts watching videos of another competitors of the second tournament, and after a few hours, he has watched almost all of them. In fact, there are only two fighters that he hasn't watched any footage yet: Kazuya and Heihachi.

Breathing deeply, Jin decides to watch Kazuya's clips. He clicks on the video of Kazuya's first match. It was held in a rooftop of Akibahara, Tokyo, Japan. Jin has never seem Kazuya this cruel and determined ever. All of Kazuya's severe looks of today are mere ants compared to the merciless feeling present in his eyes during this match. Kazuya pretty much _destroys_ Jack-2, and even though it's only a robot, it is a bit uncomfortable to watch even for Jin.

Jin then clicks in the video of Kazuya's second match. A brave Michelle Chang, dressed in jeans shorts, feathers and brown boots and coat, is staring at the sky of an Arizona desert with a mean look of someone who's determined to end someone's life. The video then cuts to another camera, showing Kazuya far away from his opponent, dressed in his fighting gi. He is walking in a slow pace towards his opponent, but is actually paying no attention at all to what he is doing, as he seems to be deep in thought. His face is pure… _confusion. There's no better word for it_ , Jin thinks as he is surprised to see such a thing. Kazuya seems quite distracted with his thoughts, whatever they are. He's taken out of his reverie when an angry Michelle snarls. Suddenly, as if dominated by another entity (which wouldn't be a surprise), Kazuya's face turns into a merciless one, although not as determined as the one of his first match, and gets into his fighting stance. Michelle follows suit, and the battle starts. The fight lasts for quite a long time, and Kazuya emerges victorious nonetheless.

In Kazuya's third match, he is standing over a black and brown polished stone floor, with the Statue of Liberty and the Twin Towers in the background of a sunny New York City. This is probably one of the few matches open to the public, and there are many people surrounding the fighting area, contained by a metal fence barrier. Jin is surprised to see that Kazuya seems to be completely lost in himself, and even tired. He is clearly deep in thought, gazing the ground intently, and is not paying attention to anything around him. His presence is merely felt there. In a moment, it looks like he shivers. In another moment, he smiles very faintly to himself as if he is thinking of something good. His train of thought is cut when a mediator screams saying Paul is too late and has been eliminated for W.O. Kazuya adjusts the collar of his white shirt as the crowd goes wild, and he leaves without saying a word, automatically followed by his personal guards. _(Reference to Paul's stage on T2)_

Jin raises the right eyebrow as he sees there is no video of Kazuya's third match, in which he fought Jun. Jin hadn't actually noticed that when he was watching his mother's matches. And now that he comes to think about it, there are _no_ videos of Jun and Kazuya together at all. He makes a mind note about this.

In the finals, Kazuya has never looked worse. If in the previous matches he looked lost, in this one he looks desperate, like he is Alice herself falling into the rabbit's hole. His red scleras show that he hasn't slept well, or hasn't slept at all. Kazuya has a purple suit on, accompanied by his usual red gloves, but the attire seems rather rumpled. He is surprised to see Heihachi standing in front of him, dressed in his black gi, alive and well. But because of his fatigue, Kazuya is able not even of being in a state of shock for too long. Instead of answering Heihachi's mockery in a similar tone as he would usually do, this time he is dead silent. For a brief moment, there is a flicker of surprise on Heihachi's eyes, which is quickly replaced by his usual merciless determination as he gets into his fighting stance. Heihachi doesn't make any more mocking comments, and although his face is unreadable, it is as if he has realized something is going on. _Of course it is._ _Just look at him_ , even Jin acknowledges. It doesn't take for too long as it would usually do for Kazuya to struggle.

He then unleashes his inner Devil, but the creature seems to be just as terrible, and even weak. The appearance of the creature is very different of what Jin has already seen. Differently of the dark purple, dark green and dark blue horrendous creature full of big horns and many sharp scales through the body, the Devil Kazuya of the video looks closer to a human form, but with a bright purple skin. The pair of horns in the forehead, the third eye, and the bat wings are still there, but smaller. The only similarity are the glowing red eyes. _(Comparison between the Devil of TT2 and the Devil of T2)_

After some more minutes of fighting, the Devil retracts itself as Kazuya falls unconscious on the ground. Heihachi goes to a normal standing position and walks towards his son. For a second, he sighs deeply, closing his eyes, then takes his son on his arms. As he does so, the angle changes to an image definitely coming from a mountain, shooting everything from distance, but with a precise zoom. The camera films Heihachi as he makes a calm and silent walk until the top of the volcano that was beside them. There, he calmly eyes the volcano, then Kazuya's face, and then the volcano again. Sighing deeply once more, the throws Kazuya in the lava to burn. Heihachi watches the volcano with an unreadable expression for exact five minutes, and then turns his back to it. The video ends by there.

Deciding he has had enough of this, Jin closes the laptop and sighs quickly passing a hand through his hair. It's a lot to sink in. He takes a brief look on the clock – it is already early evening. He hasn't even had lunch today. _The doctor is not going to like this_. Closing the laptop, he gets up and instead of asking for a servant to bring him his dinner, he decides to have his meal in the dining room instead, so he leaves his office aiming the building's kitchen.

 **…**

Lars is silently having dinner alone on the dining room of the Zaibatsu's headquarters, which is just beside the building's vast kitchen. The latter is responsible for providing all of the Estate's cuisine. As most rooms, everything is wooden since the start of Jin's leadership. The table is rectangular, very long, and has 14 chairs. The cooks served him a yosenabe, a type of nabemono, consisting of meat, seafood, egg, tofu and vegetables. He mentally curses the cooks as he tries his best to handle the chopsticks and serve himself. _(Reference to his TTT2 ending :P – I love it so bad)_

His hair is as spiky as always and he is wearing the same black tuxedo all the other Tekken force soldiers were wearing this morning. He has just finished giving the army all the instructions necessary for the following days.

He also mentally curses himself for not focusing fully on the task ahead. That's because a small part of his mind can't stop thinking about yesterday night. In the occasion, he shared a kiss with Alisa, and he can't help but think about it. After it happened, there was a couple of minutes of pure weird silence, which he broke by mumbling something about being late and wished her good night before leaving.

Lars hears a noise, and looks up to see Jin enter the room. Instead of sitting by the end of the table, he sits in front of Lars and starts serving himself, without saying a word. Lars notes that Jin doesn't put any meat on his bowl.

They eat silently for a few minutes, until Jin speaks. "Have you given the instructions to the Tekken Force?"

"Yes, right after the end of the broadcast, as you've asked." Lars says in an automatic tone.

There is a short silent minute again, but Jin speaks up one more time. "Are there any news?"

"No." Lars says. "Lee hasn't contacted us yet."

"What about the Agency?"

"Neither." Lars answers in the usual business voice. "Interpol hasn't called as well." After a brief second, he adds in a more casual tone as he gives his opinion. "It's still too early."

"I see." The room goes dead silent again afterwards.

There is another noise as someone else enters the room. Jin doesn't bother to look up, but Lars does and sees Alisa. He keeps staring at her, and she shyly smiles at him as she takes a seat beside Jin. Somehow relieved, he discreetly smiles back, although he avoids anymore eye contact afterwards. It might be the most childish thing a grown man like him could do, but the thing is that everything is far more complicated than simply liking a girl and being shy about it. Alisa is _an android_. Lars doesn't even know if having feelings for her or a deeper relationship with her is morally correct or scientifically possible, and that's what has been haunting his mind since yesterday's kiss.

Jin is no dumb and easily percepts something is going on, although he doesn't know precisely what. Regardless of that, since it is none of his business, he silently finishes his meal, stands and leaves. Alisa is already eating of a plate of her own, and Lars is still struggling with the chopsticks, trying to finish his meal.

After short minutes of muteness that feels like long hours, Lars forces himself to speak. "You did great today." He says nervously.

"Thank you." Alisa says smiling. There is a silent second before Alisa chuckles lightly. "Why don't you ask for cutlery?"

Lars drops his chopsticks and turn to face Alisa with a mocking expression of disbelief. "Really?"

She chuckles again. "In that rhythm, you're never going to satisfy your hunger."

Lars laughs back. "But don't you think I should try to learn how to use them? I'm half Japanese, you know."

"And half Swedish." She adds. "Go easy on yourself."

Lars sighs to her with a funny expression. "Okay then. I have to admit it, I _hate_ nabemono."

Alisa laughs. "What would you eat in Sweden?" She asks curiously.

Lars looks up, thinking for a quick second. "I used to always have knäckebröd for breakfast."

"What?" She asks and frowns, tilting her head to the left. _That has to be the cutest confused expression ever_ , he thinks and smiles.

"It's crispbread." He answers, still smiling.

"Oh." She smiles back. "That's nice."

They go silent again, and after a couple of minutes, Lars finally manages to finish his meal. He keeps staring at his bowl, trying to find the right words, trying to decide if saying such words is something he actually should do.

Alisa senses his tension. "Lars." He looks to her. "Are you okay?" She asks innocently.

He smiles faintly at her sweetness, but it fades away right after. "Alisa." He breathes deeply. "About yesterday, I…" He makes a pause and sighs. "I just… _I…_ " He starts to nervously look to all directions and blink rapidly, trying to think how to put it in words.

Alisa's big and curious eyes stare at him intently. _Does he… regret it?_ A slightly sad expression falls on her face.

"I just don't know how to put it in words." He is able to say under a breath, now looking to her again.

"You don't like me?" She asks right after, tilting her head to the left again, in a whisper. This time, instead of a cute confused expression, there is worry.

Lars raises the inner part of his eyebrows, pulling them together. He doesn't want to sadden her. "I do. But that's not the point." Neither acknowledge the fact that he has just admitted his feelings.

Alisa's expression doesn't change. "What is it, then?" She whispers, although a bit louder than her previous question.

He sighs. _It's better if I just spit it out_. "You're an android, Alisa." He tries to say it as soft as possible.

"So you think _I_ don't like you?" She asks, a small hint of anger on both her face and voice.

Lars is taken aback by that. Even if the hint of anger was very small, he was still able to percept it nonetheless, since Alisa is _never_ angry in _any_ amount.

Thanks to his state of surprise, he doesn't answer her question immediately, so she takes his silence as an affirmative. She looks away, staring to a far corner of the room.

Only now he speaks, with a defensive tone. "I just don't know how something more between us would work, that is, if there has any possibility of something more."

"If depends of me, then there is." She says, full of sorrow, still looking away.

Lars loses it. "Then tell me, how would it be between us?! I mean, like, everything!" He says vigorously, in a bit louder volume.

Alisa turns quickly, this time her face is pure confusion, although a flicker of hurt is in her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Lars sighs and then shakes his head violently. He passes both hands through his spiky hair, the sandy brown strands going up and then quickly down back to place. Alisa's expression is still intact and she watches him attentively.

After sighing again, Lars decides to take the softest approach he can think of. "Do you know how a relationship works? And a family?" He says, lower in volume.

"Yes." She answers as if it is obvious that she knows, still oblivious to what he means.

Lars loses it again. He simply looks at her in disbelief as if to say ' _Don't you get what I mean?!_ '

Alisa frowns and keeps staring at him. After a few seconds, her face turns to an expression of realization. "Oh." It discreetly escapes her mouth as she looks down. This time, she is the one trying to choose words, and Lars gazes at her intently, waiting desperately for an answer.

She looks to him after a moment and speaks in low volume, her sweet voice coming out in a whisper. "You're right." She quickly stands up and leaves walking rapidly, almost running.

Lars watches it dumbfounded, his jaw almost on the floor because of astonishment. That was unexpected, to say the least. Gradually, the state of shock leaves and his brain starts to understand what has just taken place. He plonks his closed fist on the table, the sound almost deafening through the mute room. After a single minute that feels like an eternity of staring angrily at his own fist, he stands and leaves.

The main chef enters a minute later, bringing a chocolate pudding with him, and is confused to see that nobody is inside. After a blink of eyes, he shrugs to himself and leaves, taking the dessert with him.

 **…**

Jin is back at his accommodation, this time in his bedroom just beside the office. He is looking to himself through the huge wall mirror as he takes off his tie. During the ceremony earlier in the day, the servants had already relocated the mirror from his office back to its place in the bedroom, besides the closet.

Suddenly, the telephone rings. He simply drops his tie on the bed and goes to his office. As he picks up the phone, the voice on the other side of the line talks first. "Mr. Kazama." The female voice says rather nervously. "There is a lady here that insists to talk to you."

"I don't recall such an appointment." He says in a bored tone.

"No sir, she d-" The woman is interrupted, and muffled noises follow up.

"Rita?" He calls the secretary's name.

"I don't need your money!" Another female voice says angrily, sounding much younger than Rita.

Jin allows himself to frown. "Who is this?"

"You know _damn well_ who I am! Just leave me alone! And take your money back!"

Before Jin is able to say anything else, more muffled noises come. He is able to distinguish the owner of the angry voice in a moment, screaming ' _leave me alone!_ '. He presumes the Tekken force is already taking care of whoever that was and hangs up.

He walks towards the window, and takes a quick look of the city. He turns to take a seat beside his office desk, but the telephone rings again before he's able to do so. Rather annoyed, he picks it up.

"Mr. Kazama." A male voice talks this time. "This is Lieutenant Beaumont. We've captured the intruder. What would like us to do with her?" He continues, with a very perceptible French accent. The man sounds rather tired, as if he has just done a lot of effort.

Jin is still quite annoyed and answers sharply. "Why are you even asking me? Just follow the protocol."

"Sir." The man says reluctantly. "She claims to be a relative." There is a pause. "Are you sure?" Jin doesn't know, but in the other side of the line, Lieutenant Beaumont regretted asking it immediately after speaking it.

Jin doesn't know what to make out of this. After a long pause for pondering, he speaks. "Put her on the line, then."

There is a moment of muffled noises again before the female voice talks. "I'm on the line." She says clearly annoyed, and sounding just as tired.

"Who are you?"

Jin hears her scoff before she speaks again. "I'm Asuka Kazama. I thought you would know." She says mockingly.

Jin ignores her last statement. "What do you want?"

"Definitely not your money!" She says angrily. Jin hears some sounds coming from the other side, which he guesses is probably because she is trying to break free and whoever is holding her now, is having to tighten the grip.

Jin rolls his eyes under closed eyelids. "You've just left the hospital and you're already looking for trouble?" He says in a disinterested tone.

Asuka, however, takes it as mockery. " _You_ are the one looking for trouble! Stay away from me and my father!" She says angrier than before.

"So I am the reason that brings you to Tokyo?"

She makes a furious growl on the other side. Muffled noises are heard for, like, the millionth time, until Lieutenant Beaumont speaks again. "Sir, how do you wish us to proceed?"

Jin silently sighs. "Just let her go."

A brief ' _Yes sir_ ' is heard by Jin as he hangs up.

 **…**

"Let me go!" Asuka screams for the millionth time, and this time she is heard. Confused, she turns to see the three soldiers walking away. Then she realizes she is out of the Mishima Estate. "Hey!" She screams at the top of the lungs, but she is ignored. She walks towards them, and as they hear her stomp, they quickly turn to her, pointing guns to her direction. She stops dead on her tracks.

"Just go." Lieutenant Beaumont threatens sinisterly.

Seeing that there is nothing she can do, she lets a half-angry half-frustrated noise leave her mouth under her breath as she turns and leaves stomping her red sneakers on the sidewalk floor. Getting into the Estate had already been quite a feat. Although she is wearing a simple blue T-shirt, thanks to her enormous breasts, the V-neck showed enough to make a stupid guard's mind. He was alone on a rear entrance and allowed her to get in after some fake flirtatious chit chat. She hates such a thing, but it was her only way in. She discreetly and quickly got inside, but when it came to talking to the secretary, things went down.

Truth is her parent _can't_ know about this. Her motives for being in Tokyo are completely different. _I just couldn't miss the chance_ , she reflects as she walks back to her small hotel room. It is quite far away actually, but she doesn't care. A walk is going to be good now. It'll help her regain focus. A good walk would always do wonders to Asuka's mind whenever it was tormented.

It had already been so much of a trouble to convince her father to let her come to Tokyo. The argument ' _it is the dream of my life_ ' made quite a point in the discussion she had with her parent. Deep inside, she feels bad for bargaining with her father for anything, but she's too stubborn to let her wishes go away that easy. Besides, her father would always end up giving in to her pleas. The University of Tokyo, the country's most renowned college institution, applies a test once in a year open to all High School students through Japan who want a scholarship. However, the test location is obviously Tokyo, and so she took a flight yesterday night so she could take the test this morning. Depending of the performance of one on the test, it was possible get either a partial or a full scholarship to any course. Asuka _had_ to take the test – this was an opportunity she couldn't pass.

She wants to study veterinary medicine at college. Asuka loves the animals. She had learned to love them with her father; Even though she grew up the suffocating Osaka city, her parent has a very beautiful garden in their home/dojo, and he would always teach her everything about the different needs of each plant she was young, besides the birds and insects that would show up every now and then. It used to fascinate her when she was a child, and it still does actually, how beautiful creatures like that can exist, every single one of them with their own particularities. She also loves to see her father just as fascinated as her as he talks about the plants and the animals with passion. Although her father wouldn't talk about it – not that she minded – she knew that such passion was because he grew up in the Yakushima forest and was being nostalgic.

Entering her modest hotel room, she picks her only bag and turns to leave. However, she realizes she forgot the television on before leaving, so she turns back to turn it off. She stops when she sees two news anchors talking about ' _The Mishima Zaibatsu's CEO Jin Kazama's wedding_ '. Her jaw drops for a second, which turns to an expression of realization. _That's why it was so easy to get in, though. They were probably relocating forces or something like that_. Not really knowing what to think of the marriage, she simply turns the TV off and leaves. Anyhow, it just none of her business and she couldn't care less about it, although she can't deny it definitely sounds rather weird. After checking out, she exits the entrance lobby and takes a passing by cab, heading to the airport. She should be home again in about two hours. She draws imaginary lines on her light blue jeans as she watches through the closed window the many buildings of the surrounding city pass her by.

 **…**

 _Alisa Bosconovitch._ Lars types and then clicks the search button. After almost an hour of eyeing everything briefly, he doesn't find what he's looking for, so he decides to make another search.

 _Gepetto Bosconovitch_. He types. _Search_. He clicks.

After going through texts of things he has already seen on Alisa's files, and more texts of things he has already knowledge of, he finds Doctor B's personal file. As a participant of the third tournament, there obviously was a folder with information about the Doctor, but it was, together with all the other competitors' folders, with Jin right now.

There, he also doesn't find what he is looking for, but he crosses something useful – Bosconovitch's professional file. _Bingo_. There, he finds out in which of the Zaibatsu's facilities around the world the Doctor is currently situated. Determined, Lars gets up, takes his coat and leaves.

 **…**

"Have you been eating properly?" Anthony asks, as he is sitting in front of Jin's office desk. There are many folders, which he doesn't what are about, and a closed black laptop over it. Jin is sitting on the other side of the desk, but instead of looking to the doctor, he is facing the window wall, with his back facing Anthony.

Jin sighs discreetly. "I skipped lunch today." Lying would only be worse – after all, this is a medical examination.

Anthony narrows his eyes in a playful manner. "I'm not even going to waste my saliva scolding you, really." He adjusts his glasses as he smiles in a good mood. Jin allows himself to smile weakly for a second, although his face is not even in Anthony's direction. "Have you had any headache or fatigue?"

"No." Jin answers. _Maybe I should start working to solve out another issues_ , he reflects as he recalls today's earlier events regarding a certain rebellious teenager. _After all, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have. And in the moment, I have to gather all power I can – more than ever before. And I think Mr. Evans might be helpful on this._

"Well, I think my job is done here for today, then." Anthony says as he clicks his pen.

"Indeed." Jin says and then turns his chair to face Anthony. "But I have another job for you, Mr. Evans." He puts his elbows on the desk and his hands under his chin. "That is, if you have any interest."

"Please, call me only Anthony." He says timidly, adjusting his glasses as he usually does.

"Pardon me. It's the force of habit."

Anthony smiles faintly, slightly nodding in understanding. After a second, he speaks. "I'm listening."

Jin looks for a folder on the piles. He quickly finds it, and takes it, putting it in front of Anthony on the desk. "This is Asuka Kazama." He says as Anthony opens the folder on the first page. "I want a full genealogical study of her. I know it is not your specific field, but I trust your abilities."

Anthony takes a brief look on the beginning of the file, and then looks to Asuka's pictures of the first page. "Sure. I don't see why not." He says with a shrug and a faint smile.

"This is all." Jin says nodding, as he closes the file and puts it back on the pile from where he had gotten it firstly. "My secretary will further discuss the matter with you and provide you all the necessary."

Anthony nods back, gets up and leaves silently. Jin proceeds to call Rita and makes the arrangements needed for the task at hand.

Jin decides to take a look at Asuka's file himself. It doesn't say much about her early and personal life besides the fact that she was born and raised in Osaka by her father only and that she has studied at Osaka City School through all her life. It also mentions her actions as the 'Gang Meditator' – a nickname she had acquired thanks to aforementioned actions. The rest of the text only talks about her participation in the tournaments, which is not what Jin is interested about, so he closes it and puts it back on the pile.

Turning his chair to face the windows again, he calmly eyes the city down under for some long minutes, and then stares blankly at the dark sky for some more minutes as he reflects about all of his current plans.

 _These are going to be one very busy week_.

* * *

 _[Day 6]_

 _Saturday, 13:08 UTC (10:08 in local time)  
São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brasil_

"Did you watch today's comedy act?" Anna asks in the most mocking tone ever. She is sitting by the desk on her personal office at G Corporation's new headquarters. Although this is her office, right now a casual conversation is going on. Her feet are on the desk, embraced by black knee-length boots, accompanied by black stockings, the latter covered by her tight blue skirt. She also wears a coat of the same blue, and there is a hat for her full look as well, but the latter is also on the desk.

Lee knows exactly what she is talking about. "Yes, I did." Lee smirks. Brown button shirt, grey jeans and black shoes cover him as he watches Anna analyze her black nails with her left arm extended in the air.

"Kazuya would _looove_ hearing such news." She says and laughs. "Sad thing he's not going to know." She says with a joking fake-sad voice, and makes a baby-like pout.

"What do you mean?" Lee asks as he passes a hand through his hair to adjust it.

"He's going to spoil all the fun, of course." She answers, with a slight Irish accent escaping in the end of the sentence, which she hasn't spoken in years. Then, she turns her head to face Lee, putting her arm down. "I'm going to take action _myself_." Anna smirks, playfully raising an eyebrow.

At hearing that, Lee smirks to himself, although in the context of the conversation it is as if he is smirking back to her. "And what do you have in mind?"

"Something quite fun, I'd say." Her smirk doesn't leave her face, neither does his own.

* * *

 _[Day 6]_

 _Saturday, 13:20 UTC (15:20 in local time)  
Istanbul, Turkey_

"If publicly announcing a marriage was either planned or genuine, it's still an opportunity to strike that can't be passed. However, it must be done discreetly and very well calculated, because it's obvious that it will be a hard task nonetheless." Albert de Rochefort says on the other side of the line, with his distinctive French accent.

"I couldn't have put it in better words." Heihachi answers. "Actually, I already have a plan in mind."

Heihachi proceeds to explain his plan in details, to which Albert listens attentively. After some minutes, the call is finished, and he puts the telephone back on its place on the nightstand. In a normal situation, he would _never_ use a hotel phone, but since this is Albert's Rochefort Grand Hotel in Istanbul, there is no need to worry, because it's obvious the man will take all necessary measures to maintain safety.

He changes into his black gi of red belt and leaves his hotel room, going to the huge elevator. After some corridors, he eventually leads himself to the hotel's gym. During all that process, he malignantly smirks to himself every now and then.

 _That wedding is going to be one of this era's greatest events, and will be studied by the future generations, present in many study books.  
And __I_ _will be there to make that history._

 **End of Chapter 6**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** _YAASSS_ , another chapter, this one with +10000 words **!**

Well, as I've said in a direct review answer to someone some time ago, in some chapters this story will focus only in a particular place. This is an example, as most of this chapter is situated in the Mishima Estate.

As already mentioned in a previous chapter, the Mishima Estate is an independent country. However, I prefer to refer to it as ' _Tokyo, Japan_ ' because it is indeed the equivalent location, so it is better for you guys to situate yourselves.

Once again, all of the politicians and the war situations described in this fanfiction are completely fake and do not reflect reality nor my opinions.

 ***ANSWERING*** Guest – Thank you very much! I'll try my best to keep up. :)

giovanna21d – Ai meu Deusssss, uma conterrânea da terra da zoeira! \o/ Muito obrigada pelos elogios, fico muito feliz em saber que estou descrevendo bem o Kazuya e o Jin, porque apesar de todos os personagens de Tekken terem uma certa complexidade, eles são definitivamente os mais difíceis. Mas sinceramente, vejo eles como sombrios como consequência do que eles sofreram (principalmente o Kazuya, e concordo que foi quem mais sofreu dos Mishima), e haverá uma diferenciação disso logo, logo. Inclusive, já até escrevi umas one-shots sobre isso.  
E a possibilidade da Kazumi aparecer não é remota – é CERTA! Quero fazer uma história a mais canônica possível, e ela definitivamente irá aparecer. Primeiro, estou tendo que preparar o terreno dos outros personagens, mas ela vai fazer parte sim, assim como Akuma. Inclusive estou com os dedos coçando pra escrever algo sobre ela e o Heihachi na juventude, mas o tempo está curto. :P  
Bom, muito obrigada e fico muito feliz em saber que tenho uma leitora brasileira. :) Estarei aguardando ansiosamente por mais reviews suas! S2

I'm going to keep things shorter here in the notes this time _(actually, it's already long, but whatever. lol. I guess I talk too much :P)_.  
Thank you _very_ much and see you next time!


	7. Emotional Breakdowns

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter Seven: Emotional Breakdowns**

 _[Day 7]_

 _Sunday, 21:02 UTC (16:02 in local time)  
Somewhere in the state of Amazonas, Brasil_

Although a rainy and cloudy sky would be the usual norm in the great Amazon forest by this time of the day, today the sun had been blessed by the absence of clouds. The vast turquoise sky caresses Julia's vision tenderly as she follows the other trackers by the stone riverbank. The temperature is warm, as the sun shines brightly and the forest echoes the heat, but the air is humid, just as it should be.

The explorers are following a sound trail for about a few minutes now. _I wonder how the world is reacting to the news_ , Julia thinks, holding the urge to smirk as she maintains her pace. _According to our plans, the announcement must've been done yesterday morning_. She almost trips on a rock, thanks to her distraction. _I don't remember Anna, or anybody for that matter, warning Kazuya about it. Strange_. She frowns, both because of her thought and the sun that she is looking directly at. She changes her gaze to the floor, aiming to avoid any more rocks. _Maybe we're not able to be contacted here. I don't see why there would be a mobile signal reception antenna in the middle of the forest, though. At least not here specifically – there aren't any cities near this area._

Suddenly, Kazuya and the other man in front of Julia stop, and she follows suit. She sees that they have reached a waterfall. However, under there, beside the continuation of the river, there are some indigenous people fighting. Julia and the group hides behind some rocks to see that instead of fighting each other, the members of the opposite tribes are all being massacred by a single person.

Frowning slightly, Julia leans a bit more to get a better view, only to see that the individual is a woman, identifiable thanks to the body curves. Julia frowns further as she sees that the person is not wearing any clothes, and her body parts are covered in what could only be described as mud, that sometimes seems to be blue, and in others purple. At least in the back, the part visible to Julia in the woman's current position, the mud covers the individual from the feet until just above the butt, besides the forearms.

In the woman's upper right arm, there is a black tattoo of a drawing Julia is sure that she has seen somewhere else, but she can't recall where. The woman also has shoulder-length raven black straight hair, which floats freely as she moves, matching with the perfectly executed fighting techniques that go from exotic cartwheels to spinning punches and kicks.

If all that wasn't odd enough, there is some sort of light blue fog behind the woman, like it is a hologram. At first, Julia is not able to understand what exactly it is, but as the woman keeps on attacking the indigenous people, she is able to percept that the blue fog seems to be some sort of creature that moves similarly to the woman. Paying further attention, it actually seems to be the opposite – it is as if the woman is being guided by the fog, like she is a dead puppet controlled by invisible strings. The woman doesn't look far away from dead though, at least on her skin color – it is paler than what is considered healthy.

The woman performs several strong attacks on the natives, regardless of tribe, and it doesn't take long for them all to be either dead or running away. In front of Julia, a tall black man nods to Kazuya as Kazuya nods back over his shoulder and then turns to eye the woman again.

Suddenly, taking everyone aback, the woman comes to an abrupt stop and rapidly turns directly to see the group, with a maniac grin on her face. Her googly eyes are piercing gold. In the front part of her body, now visible, the purple mud covers her all the way from her feet until her breasts.

What happens next is even more frightening. At the woman's gaze, Kazuya instantly falls to his knees and screams as his hands are holding his head. The rest of them cover their ears instinctively, including Julia. Although Julia is scared, she forces herself to keep her eyes open, and realizes everybody else is doing and feeling pretty much the same. Kazuya screams like there is no tomorrow, no voice box, no one else around, no universe, _nothing_. Describe the scream as 'deafening' would be underestimating it. The volume is absurdly loud and… _inhuman_. Julia widens her eyes as she comes to this realization.

It is not Kazuya who's screaming – _it is the Devil_. As each second passes, more dark purple, blue and green scales grown on the creature's body as he writhes himself on the ground. He seems to be in severe pain. The woman down the waterfall doesn't move for a second, and watches it all like a statue, with her wild smirk intact. The Devil then, suddenly, simply rises and flies always as fast as he can.

After a second of mutual astonishment coming from everybody, the tall black man in front of Julia speaks up with an authority-like voice. "What are you waiting for?! Go!" As he says so, all of the soldiers behind Julia promptly jump down. Julia is taken aback and falls on her butt. She is still too much in shock from what has just taken place.

As she starts standing again she sees that the fellow archeologists have also gone and are holding guns. She frowns. _Wait a minut…_ Then it hits her. _It has never been about a stupid treasure. It has always been about… this!_ She angrily curses herself on her mind for being so stupid and blind as she watches the soldiers confront the woman. She is strong, way too strong. Probably the strongest person Julia has ever seen. _That is, if that thing is human._

Julia spends the following very long minutes in astonishment, hiding behind the rock. Below, the only ones standing right now are the black man and the purple mud woman. Julia starts breathing heavily, trying to gain her focus back. _I have to do something._ Carefully putting her backpack aside, she slowly gets closer to the waterfall border, still crouched. She waits for a good opportunity. When the woman is right below her, she jumps and his the woman with all her body weight.

The woman is quite affected by the attack, and looks around confusedly after getting up. That is a window of opportunity for the black man, who angrily punches the woman's face and head with all his strength many followed times. Although the woman is very fast herself, the surprise element helped Julia and him enough.

The unknown woman falls on her back, but gets up quickly and charges instantly, running in the direction of the black man. Taking a closer look, Julia is able not only to see that the fog behind the woman is some sort of wolf, but also that it looks very, _very_ angry. _Oh-oh_.

The unknown woman hits him with a strong flying kick that sends him away. Julia takes advantage of the fact that the woman's back is facing her and performs two spinning kicks with the right leg, one being high and the other being low, closing the combo with a left hand slash uppercut that sends the woman flying.

By that, the black man is already beside Julia. "Sorry, but do I know your name?" She says.

"Bruce Irvin." He finishes the dialogue as they quickly prepare to attack the woman who has just gotten up.

The unknown woman comes running at Julia's direction, but Bruce performs his Cyclone Kick and sends her backwards again. The unknown gets up and runs towards Bruce this time, only for Julia to make a Triple Spinning Kick, once more sending the unknown backwards.

This time, after Unknown gets up, she doesn't run after any of them. Instead, she starts circling them, and the duo does the same. After a while, Julia attempts to make a Palm Explosion, a move consisting of a spin followed by strong hit of the palm. However, the woman makes a Saiuntsui, which is pretty much a frontwards somersault, hitting Julia with her feet as they come down.

Following Julia's fall, Bruce comes running after Unknown, but before he's able to try anything, he is paralyzed by… _the air?_ He is floating, and around him there seems to be some sort of rush of air raising him. He is not able to move much, but manages to slowly turn his face to the direction of the woman again, only to see some sort of giant hand, made of the same purple mud of the woman's body, raising from the ground and coming down at him with mighty power.

Julia gets up, there is a small window for her to attack Unknown as the latter gets back on her fighting stance. Since there is not much time, Julia performs the first technique that comes to her mind. It is rather a simple one, a combo of both hands that results in three high punches, the last one pushing the enemy away.

Julia gets back on her stance in front of Bruce, in an attempt to protect him as he struggles to get up. Unknown in front of her also gets up, and both ladies study one another.

Julia takes the opportunity to try to distract the enemy. "Well woman, who are you?!" She asks loudly. The woman grins widely, just like she had done before, but doesn't give an answer.

"Who are you?!" Julia asks louder, eyeing the blue fog behind the woman.

" **I am the Forest Demon, and you shall get out of my way!** " The voice actually sounds like many put together, and the result is low and distorted. It is clear that it is actually the wolf spirit talking, and the result voice is his 'interpretation' of the woman's original tone, whatever it originally sounds like.

After saying that, Unknown does a combo of four hits, consisting a low roundhouse kick of the right leg, followed by a hit of the left hand as she completes the spin, then a punch of the right hand and finished by a right-legged roundhouse kick as she suddenly starts spinning in the opposite direction – although Julia doesn't know, the technique is named White Heron Dance. It sends Julia backwards.

During their dialogue, Bruce had already gotten up, but was hiding behind Julia. As she flies, he sidesteps and simply makes a very strong kick with his right leg, hitting the unknown woman on her face, a move called Cobra Sword. Unknown falls at his feet.

Julia comes by his side and makes a move that raises Unknown in the air. As if they had previously combined the move, both start makes series of combos, never letting Unknown go back to the ground. They harmoniously perform many punches and kicks pushing her in the same direction, until both finish it by sending her flying backwards. The outcome is strong and she only comes to a stop when she hits a tree on the other side of the river. The sound echoes in the forest, and she collapses on the ground right after.

Bruce gets out of his fighting stance, and Julia was about to do the same when she confusedly stopped on her tracks. The wolf creature is nowhere to be seen. Unknown puts her hands on the river and starts raising herself. By that move, Bruce and Julia are on their fighting stances again. Unknown suddenly raises her head and smirks as the water around her turns dark and her raven black hair turns white, the color spreading through her bangs as if someone had dropped paint on a cloth. She quickly gets up on her own fighting stance, and the once blue-purple mud is now bronze.

Slowly, the duo walk towards Unknown, and she walks towards them, until they all stop when everybody is closer, yet with a safe distance still present, as they stand on some rocks disposed over the river. The only hearable sound now is the waterfall.

All of a sudden, Unknown performs two punches – each of her hands striking one of her opponents – and about three or four enormous thorns raise from the ground, hitting both.

They struggle to get up and Unknown allows them to do so. However, she gives them no time afterwards and instantly performs a backwards cartwheel and raises thorns of the same fashion again.

The process repeats itself for a while, with Unknown always starting a combo and finishing it with the thorns.

The process is only broken when Julia lets Bruce rise first, and as Unknown starts an attack against him, Julia crouches and makes a Slow Power Punch Combo, consisting of a right hand punch in the stomach and a left hand uppercut. The technique sends Unknown up in the air. As she raises, Unknown has no time to do an attack and meets both of Julia's hands as she does the Angry Bull, which is simply a hard push. The strike sends Unknown too far away for Julia to attack again, so she keeps herself in her position as Bruce gets on his fighting stance beside her.

Unknown comes running to their direction, and both start a back attack. However, that was exactly what Unknown wanted, and she simply stops in the middle of the run, leaving a safe distance between her and her opponents. As they take their time to go back to their stances and tentatively take a step backwards, she performs the Shinki on Julia, quickly followed by a Minazuki on Bruce.

Although none of them know the names of the techniques, they experience their power. The Shinki is a hard punch on the stomach, as some white luminous balls circle Unknown, sending Julia backwards. The Minazuki is a middle kick of the left leg after she spins and crouches, doing the strike with her back facing the opponent, a hit that sends Bruce flying as well.

Julia, as the first to be hit, is the first to get up, only to meet with Unknown's feet as she performs the Double Lift Kicks followed by a series of strikes, the combo never letting Julia land until it is properly finished with a harder blow. Unknown senses the other opponent charging at her with full speed, to which she responds by simply crouching and doing a Sumiregari, hitting him in the calves with both palms as she takes one of his legs and pushes it as she walks frontwards, taking him of his feet, and now she is standing behind him.

Bruce quickly gets up and performs a Triple Kick Rush, followed by his classical and very strong Gatling Kicks on her face, taking Unknown's balance. Unknown gets up making a Moon Scent and raises some thorns. He proceeds to stand and performs a combo of his own, and the process repeats itself, each time with difference techniques coming from both.

Julia is fallen a bit far away from both now. She is facing the waterfall, and notices that her backpack has fallen, and is now completely opened over a rock by her right, a couple of steps away. What has made her notice it was her pendant, actually. It's like it is… _pulsing_. That's the only way it could be described. And that's what made Julia turn her head. She crawls to its direction and grabs it. Putting it on her neck, but hiding it under her shirt, she stands and discreetly walks towards the fight, semi-crouched.

As Unknown is distracted attacking Bruce, Julia cuts her opponent's combo in the middle by performing a Double Sweep, hitting her twice with the leg while spinning in a crouch. The spots hit by Julia stay white for a millisecond before going back to the bronze color. However, it goes unnoticed by both Julia and Bruce, as they concentrate on the enemy rising from the ground.

Unknown gazes at Julia with a bitter expression and charges at her full speed, making series of furious combos that seem to never stop. After longer than Julia wished, they stop, thanks to Bruce who finally gets a suitable window for him to hit the enemy with a strong right knee in the face.

Unknown forces herself to get up rather quickly, but instead of attacking Bruce, she charges against Julia again. Before she is able to start a combo, however, Julia makes a Heaven Shatter Kick, a simple roundhouse kick of the right leg, hitting Unknown on the face and sending her backwards. Since Julia is too weakened for now and too far away from the woman, she keeps herself on her spot. Bruce, however, takes the lead and performs a Slash Kick, creating distance between the woman and Julia.

He keeps on trying to distract Unknown, but she always seems to aim Julia, only to be taken off balance again by Bruce. She grows angrily tired of it and makes quite a gracious looking technique, a backwards cartwheel-alike move called Moon Scent, hitting him with her feet as she lays on the ground again, only to make four Leg Cutters, which are basically spinning kicks while crouched, proceeding then to finish the attack with two semi-cartwheel high hits named Twin Cloud Kicks.

As Bruce is taken off balance, Unknown turns to Julia's direction, only to be met with Julia's feet instead of attacking her, flying backwards thanks to the air kick. As Unknown hits the tree she had hit earlier, Julia performs series of combos to keep her on the tree, never letting Unknown move, pinning her to the dark wooden trunk. Julia starts to grow tired quite quickly, but that's because she's doing all of her faster combos aiming not to give Unknown not even a millisecond of window to attack, besides the fatigue accumulated from the whole battle plus the whole day of forest trekking.

She only forces herself to stop when she finally realizes that every hit leaves a temporary white mark on Unknown's bronze mud, as if it had been burned. Julia is astonished to see such a thing, and she can't help but kneel in tiredness when she stops, and Unknown falls at Julia's feet. Since it is a demoniac being, or at least controlled by one, the woman does not look like she is going to faint or die – because as Julia had already noted, the woman already appears to be dead somehow – but she is clearly to beaten to make any reaction now.

When Unknown's head touches Julia's knees, the pendant starts pulsing even stronger. Sensing it, she takes it out of her neck, since it was practically hurting her, the object beating almost like a heart on her right hand. As she brings it closer to Unknown, it manages to pulse even harder, repeatedly and unstoppably. Julia frowns and does the unthinkable – she puts the necklace on the woman.

When she does so, some sort of shock pulse is emitted by the collar, sending Julia backwards and, at the same time, raising Unknown to her knees. The woman releases a cry as white luminous balls leaves her through her mouth and revolve around her, each of them portraying different and not understandable images. Julia and Bruce watch in astonishment. The woman then releases a stuttered half-gasp half-cry noise, then a haunting growl of agony as her eyes lose their glow, quickly followed by a close of eyelids, and she falls hard on the river, facing the waterfall as her right ear touches the ground, her black tattoo disappearing.

Gradually, the water washes the bronze mud of her body and the white color of her hair away. When she is completely nude, a very torn and dirty short once beige dress appears on the woman's body, accompanied by some grimy white bandages on her legs.

Bruce and Julia are sitting on some rock, breathing heavily, eyeing each other, then the woman. The process repeats itself for a long period until Julia speaks up. "What do we do now?"

After a minute, Bruce answers. "We take her." After another minute, he speaks up again as he gets up. "Keep an eye on her."

 _After the pain in the ass she was, I would never keep my eyes off of her_. Julia curses on her mind. That was definitely the strongest person and most skilled fighter Julia has ever seen. Julia is sure the woman is/was a fighter. _I mean, okay, she was being controlled by a demon, but I'm sure it was the 'Forest' Demon, and not the 'Fighting' Demon. Those are probably the woman's moves, whoever she is, or was._ Julia knows they were lucky, though. The things that led to Julia and Bruce's victory were only three: firstly, the fact that thanks to basic math, two is a bigger number than one; secondly, they are quite skilled fighters themselves as well; thirdly, Julia managed to pin the woman against a goddamn tree. Yet, they had been beaten up _bad_ as well. _The Mishimas? Pfft, baby's play close compared to her_ , she continues her thinking.

After what she has assumed to be a few minutes, Bruce sits beside her again, throwing her backpack rather carelessly towards her as she gets a cellphone in what she presumes is Bruce's backpack. He moves his arm around for a moment, trying to find service on his mobile phone, but fails miserably. He puts it back on the bag and searches for something else, eventually getting a paper map out of it.

"We'll have to carry her until a nearby town." He says in a monotone voice.

"What?!" Julia gasps loudly.

Before she's able to ask him if he's kidding, he speaks up again. "There is no other way."

They keep eyeing the unconscious woman on the ground for some minutes. Although completely beaten, messed up and motionless, her beauty still overshadows it all. Under the dirt, there is a porcelain white face of gracious features, accompanied by dusky bangs and a delicate skin. One could say there are many pretty woman in this world, and if that's really so, this woman must be from an outer planet, because her beauty is extraordinary. Not even Bruce, a man who's not of such attitude and personality, can't help but look at her rather dreamily. However, he suddenly gets up as he realizes something: none of them checked if the woman is really dead.

He searches for pulse, and is surprised to feel one. He allows himself to widen his eyes a bit before speaking to Julia, although not turning to her as he does so. "She's alive."

Julia widens her eyes as well, also frowning. She gets closer to the woman and leans her body on the tree she had been beaten on, pulling some strands of hair away from her cheeks. As both analyze her face, something inside Bruce, most likely his guts, try to tell him that he has already seen that woman somewhere, but the idea is so absurd and ridiculous that he ignores it without any doubts, pushing it aside completely.

"We should tie her up." Julia says in low volume, a slight tone of guilt on her voice. She doesn't like cruelty. However, self-defense should always come first, and if the woman had been dangerous once, she easily could be again.

Bruce doesn't answer. He simply takes some steps backwards, and comes back after short seconds with a rope. "This is all I have." He says as he starts biding her limbs.

"It's still better than nothing." Julia says as she gets her backpack. When Bruce finishes, he puts the woman leaned on his right shoulder. Instinctively, Julia picks his backpack. He nods once to her, and turns, walking through the riverbank, followed by Julia, leaving the dead bodies of natives and soldiers behind them without thinking twice.

Although they're beaten to the core, they force themselves to travel as much as they can before the night hits the sky. Bruce would keep a compass on his free hand as the other would be holding the woman on his shoulder. Every now and then, they would make a quick pause only for Bruce to sit for a minute to rest his back as he would eye the paper map again, marking it with a simple pencil in every of their stops. Julia would also rest her back – although the bags were lighter than the woman, that didn't mean they weren't heavy – and also calmly clean her glasses every now and then. Now it was safe to use them, anyway. Whenever they would get up to continue, Bruce would always put the woman on the opposite shoulder, and hold the compass on the other hand.

The process repeated itself for a while until the bright blue above them was replaced by a pitch black view full of stars. Around that time, they couldn't take it anymore. Both were close to faint. Bruce tied up the woman on a tree in a last effort to keep themselves safe as both were too tired to guard during the night. They use their hard bags as something to elevate their heads from the ground, although it is very uncomfortable. In the current situation, however, it feels like floating on clouds, and they instantly fall asleep, embraced by the fatigue and the darkness.

 **…**

Julia opens her eyes, and the blurry sight burns her pupils. _Good morning, sun_ , she thinks angrily, referring to the sun as if it was an enemy of hers, as she lazily scratches her eyes. She then stretches her body in a silent yawn, although an unconscious gasp leaves her mouth. She slowly gets up and puts her back on a tree by her left, and let her eyes adjust as she looks to the ground. When they do so, she picks up her bag and grabs her glasses, placing them carelessly on her face. She is stinky and sweating, thanks to the hot temperature of the equatorial climate zone the Amazon forest is situated in. She unties her braid and makes a bun to avoid having her hair glued on her neck. Her shirt is almost soaking. But she couldn't care less about that. Shower is not a basic need.

That instantly leads her to think of how much her mouth and throat are dry. She gets the small bottle out of her backpack and lazily gets the map from Bruce's bag. He's still asleep. The last point marked on the map is where they are now, and she realizes that they're actually not too much far away from the town. She sighs in relief. There is also a nearby lake, which should be about ten minutes of walking from here.

Since going there alone would be a completely imprudent decision, she puts the items back on their respective bags and touches Bruce's right arm, shaking it to wake him up. As she does so, she realizes she is not the only one awake.

She stares at the tied up woman in complete shock, and she slowly stops moving Bruce's arm. She is frozen at her spot, and Bruce starts waking up only to freeze as well. The woman looks… scared. It's quite ironic since she gave them quite a hard time.

" _Water…_ " She says in a faint whisper of Japanese, with the intonation of a question, looking to the bags and then back to Julia. She's struggling to keep her eyes open, and seems very weak.

"We're going to get some." She answers, and although she leans her head to Bruce's direction, she doesn't take her eyes out of the woman.

Bruce gets up as he hears that, pushing the shock aside instantly. He starts untying her of the tree as Julia gets the bags. When Bruce puts the woman on his right shoulder, she doesn't complain.

The way to the lake is silent. The snap of the many branches, leaves and plants on the ground is the only sound that reaches their ears as they step, combined with the wind mildly shaking the trees that surround them and that cover them from the hot sun. Their view is that of many brown wooden trunks and green treetops that look just like the ones they saw five minutes ago, until it finally changes as they arrive on their destination – the lake.

Bruce gently puts the woman on the ground beside the water and leaves, mumbling "I'm gonna search for phone service." He doesn't wait for Julia's answer.

Both ladies eye each other briefly, and then Julia grabs the bottles, gets the water and purify it with a special substance – only a few drops of it is enough to make it drinkable. The woman waits patiently, with eyes full of need as she stares at the bottles. Her features contort slightly every now and then.

Julia notices that, and says "You should lay down. You must be in pain." as she gives one bottle to her.

The woman drinks it so fast that Julia decides to give the other bottle to her, instead of drinking it herself. The process repeats itself until the woman has had seven bottles in total, and only after that she lays down as Julia suggested, her limbs still tied up to each other.

Julia drinks the amount of water she needs, and Bruce has yet to return. "Who are you?" The woman breaks the silence suddenly, speaking English. Now that she is speaking louder, Julia can hear the woman's sweet yet mature tone of voice clearly.

Julia looks at her with a slight expression of disbelief. "The real question here is who _you_ are."

The woman looks intently at Julia for a long moment, but she simply looks away afterwards.

Julia frowns, but then decides it is better to talk about such things on a more proper time. "You should rest."

The woman looks back to Julia and nods, then turning her head to face the sky above, falling asleep almost instantly afterwards. Bruce gets back, mumbling that he wasn't able to get phone service and that they'll have to keep walking as he drinks water himself.

"We should get going." He says as he gets up, and then puts the woman on his left shoulder. Julia grabs the bags.

"Let's go."

* * *

 _[Day 8]_

 _Sunday, 00:12 UTC (09:12 in local time)  
Kyoto, Japan_

There is a small interrogation room of four gray stone walls. The floor has probably the same tone of the walls, but it is so dusty that it has acquired a brownish color. The count of how many rats, cockroaches, flies and moths that have come and gone here through the tiny window of the room, which is simply a square-shaped open hole high above the wall, has already been lost. The aforementioned window is the only source of light and fresh air of the space, turning the room into a stuffy and gloomy torture.

There is a rusty iron door in one of the walls, but it is locked. A person is sitting on a chair of the same dusty iron in the exact middle of the room. Actually, rather than sitting, that person is stuck in the chair – thanks to the silver steel chains binding her to it. Differently from the iron-made furniture of the room, the chains are shining new. In front of the person, there is a very old wooden table and also another chair on the other side, this one wooden like the table.

The door is suddenly opened, and the other chair is occupied. Both people silently stare at each other, although their masks prevents them from seeing each other's actual expressions. Not even their breathing can be heard. There are no nasty animals around to make a sound.

The room is pure and literal muteness for a long minute, before the person in chains speaks, in Japanese. "I wonder if there's still a man down under." The feminine voice says emotionlessly, rather sharply, with a tone that sounds mature. Although a white fox max covers most of her face, her red lips are visible, alongside with a brown small spot under them in the left side.

"There has always been a man down under." Comes the stern answer. The voice is distorted, but it is definitely male. His disfigured red and grey skeleton mask covers all his head.

"I disagree."

"You always do."

After another long minute of silent staring, the man speaks up. "Why have you been attacking dojos?"

"I thought it was very clear already."

"Things are never clear with you."

The woman allows herself to scoff slightly. "Being unclear is what _you_ do. Do not put words in my mouth."

"You've always known where to find me. There was no need to make those attacks."

"That doesn't matter." She breaks off, showing no sign of emotion.

"What does matter, then?" He asks in the same emotionless tone of the whole conversation.

"We have unfinished business."

"Our issues have been resolved a long time ago."

"If that helps you sleep at night." She smirks.

There is a brief pause before the man continues the dialogue. "What do you want?"

"To settle things properly, once and for all." She answers. "And maybe use the opportunity to cut off those tentacles."

The man has four light grey tentacles on his body – two on his head and another two coming from each of his shoulders, all of them falling to his back – and the limbs move once in a wave-like manner at their mention, but the man himself doesn't answer at first. After a second, however, he does. "You don't seem to be in advantage."

"Do you have any regrets?" The woman asks right after, completely changing the subject.

"Bringing you into the Manji Clan." He answers without hesitation.

"And I regret allowing you to go alone at first." She says without being asked.

"That wasn't a decision that concerned you."

She controls the urge to scoff. "Of course it was. Family is always a concern."

"There is no such a thing between the Manji. The Clan always comes first."

"For you." She says bitterly, the only emotion expressed in the dialogue so far.

"For everyone." He ignores her bitterness and maintains his sternness. "And that's where you've failed."

"I did not fail." She says sharply, intonating each word slowly.

"How did you not?" He puts his elbows on the desk and slightly leans forward.

" _You_ failed me." She changes the course of the dialogue. She would have leaned forward too if the chains didn't prevent her from doing so.

He goes back to his previous position. "I have never owed you anything."

This time, once again, the scoff comes out. "Yes, you have!" She says, a little louder and a bit angry. "And that's where _you have_ failed."

"Your stubbornness deceives your honor."

"A similarity we share on blood." She says. "Don't we, _Yoshiro_?"

The man simply gets up and walks towards the door, but he stops before opening it. After a silent second, he speaks, with his back still facing her. "If you were open with me, _Kuniko_ , maybe indeed our business could be finished."

He then leaves. The door is closed only to be opened again by a fellow Manji Clan member, bringing her traditional Japanese food. He simply puts it on the table and leaves, giving no mind to the fact that she can't move to eat.

* * *

 _[Day 8]_

 _Sunday, 09:09 UTC (10:09 in local time)  
Barcelona, Spain_

Josie is alone watching as the gravedigger buries her grandmother's coffin. The darkness of her pitch-black maxi dress matches the lightless of her heart now. Her usual vivid tanned skin is now reflecting the paleness of the cloudy sky. The drizzle gently lays itself on her skin and match her silent yet unstoppable tears. Her brain is completely focused on taking the blame instead of releasing the pain.

She feels like all her family's effort was in vain – they used all their resources to save her grandmother, yet it all went to waste. And mostly, she feels that she has failed her grandmother. She can't stop the thoughts that tell herself she could have done more, she could done better.

And if all that wasn't enough, she's trapped in a country foreign to her. She has no idea of what to do now – after all, the reason of her coming to Spain had been her grandmother, but now she's passed. _What am I supposed to do now?_ She thinks. _Leave Spain? To where? Back to home? What home?_

As the white casket is completely under the ground, she passes both her hands once on her face, drying her eyes with the single move. She releases a sigh, nods to the gravedigger and turns on her heels, leaving the place.

 _I may be sad, but I'm not one to give up_ , she thinks. _I'll get right back up. En honor a mi abuela_.

* * *

 _[Day 8]_

 _Sunday, 21:10 UTC (16:10 in local time)  
Cancún, Quintana Roo, México_

Zafina has just gotten inside a simplistic airplane which is going to take the volunteers back to where they've come from. She's now sitting by the window, watching the pinkish sunset sky through the window. The glass material is fogged thanks to its dirtiness, but the big round sun still shines bright through it. The light matches the white of her knee-length pants, but contrast with her black shirt and her many deep blue bracelets and necklaces.

Everybody is getting prepared to take off the country. The Red Cross withdrew with all the volunteering camps after the Mishima Zaibatsu announced they would be offering help themselves.

Besides, after the unknown man Zafina fought was electrocuted by a man even more mysterious than the former, the American dominance started to decrease, because they weren't expecting such a thing to happen, therefore they were not prepared to send a substantial army to the place to maintain their control. They were depending on that man only.

She is full of scratches and bruises, thanks to the fight she had, but they're the least of her concerns now, as her thoughts are far away. Her body forgets the pain as concern overcomes her.

As not only an astrologist, but also as someone with a bit of psychic powers, she senses things better than anybody. And she can't deny she has bad feeling that something is about to happen. The Mishima Estate's broadcast was not surprising to Zafina as it was to most people. For her, actually, it was suspicious. 'They're up to something' was the first thought that crossed her mind when Jin said he'd be getting married. The Zaibatsu is the world's most meticulous corporation, and no matter who's in charge, everything they do has a very specific (and malignant) reason behind.

She wish she could understand better what is happening right now. _Although, the last time I wished that, a vision brought very bad news_ , she thinks. She recalls the vision, which she deciphered with the help of her village's guru, who told her of an ancient prophecy that said that ' _when two evil stars clash,_ _the seal of the tomb will be broken and the one captive will come out, leading the world to an inevitable end_ '. She can't help but think that the prophecy didn't happen at all – _the evil stars did not clash, the captive awakened but it didn't end the world. What's supposed to happen now?_

And as if on cue, the stars give her a new vision. Rapid flashes cross her mind, but it is as if she's watching a screen, and the scenes are bright and blurred on her sight. And just as sudden, she snaps out of it, and she gasps involuntarily. Her head aches and the wondering that had been inside her has now been replaced by a mix of fear, shock and worry.

She's feeling some sort of chest pain – a strong bad feeling of what's about to come. She keeps breathing hard trying to calm herself. When someone sits beside her, she turns her face to gaze intently at the window. She closes it instinctively, as if the sky was going to give her another vision.

 _Calm down, Zafina. The solution is always focus_. After two or three minutes, she feels calm enough to open her eyes – she hadn't even realized she had closed them in first place.

 _I need to seek the guru. I may not understand the message, but I feel like it has come with a red alert. There's no time to lose._

* * *

 _[Day 9]_

 _Monday, 07:01 UTC (15:01 in local time)  
Somewhere above the Asian continent_

Analyzing the few fluffy white clouds spread out on the vast deep blue sky through the window is all she has done since she got inside the plane. The news are still echoing on her mind in an infinite loop.

Xiaoyu watched Saturday's broadcast by the Mishima Zaibatsu. During the rest of her Saturday, she was still trying to process it. Jin is getting married. Her best friend, Miharu, tried to comfort her, but it was useless. But not because she was sobbing – in fact, because she was static. The most surprising thing, and even she could admit it, was that she didn't cry at all. She did not have even the force to let tears fall – she was dry. It dried her.

On Sunday, it was time to go back home. During the first flight, a connection one from Milan to Moscow, she was still trying to process it all. Since their second flight would only be on the following day, Miharu dragged her to the city at night. However, both girls knew that the cold city of Moscow, on that day, was not gelid because of the weather. On her mind, Xiaoyu was desperately trying to find someone to blame.

During the second flight, in which she is currently in, she has finally managed to deduce who is the one to blame: _herself_. She believed for too long when the whole situation was wrong. She shouldn't have taken a school crush to such a high level. And it was bitter to admit it.

Perhaps, if she has at least realized that, it means she has grown up. It was about time already. She has just turned 19, and she should start facing the world with a bit more realistic eyes. Xiaoyu slowly closes her eyes and breathes deeply.

"Xiao." Miharu says with a low volume voice, tired of seeing her friend in such a state. "Please talk to me." Her tone is full of concern.

Xiaoyu opens her eyes and turns to face her friend, who's sitting beside her wearing a piercing white blouse and bright red round skirt that are hard to miss. "I'm fine, Miharu." She says in a sad sigh.

"No, you're not." Miharu says, but Xiaoyu doesn't answer. "What's on your mind?" She asks, gently stroking her friend's fringe and putting it under ear. Xiaoyu's hair tied up on her trademark ponytails, and she's wearing an orange T-shirt covered by a light blue denim jumpsuit that ends in a mini skirt.

"I can't believe I've done this to myself." Xiaoyu says.

"What?" Miharu's tone is of disbelief. "You've done nothing."

"I did, Miharu. I did." Xiaoyu says looking down for a second. "We've always been only good friends. We've never actually had anything besides friendship. He simply doesn't owe me."

"Oh, Xiao." Miharu sounds just as sad as her friend. "Don't do this to yourself." She puts her right hand on Xiaoyu's left shoulder.

Xiaoyu faces Miharu again. "And what can I do, then?"

Miharu's answer doesn't come. She knows too that there is nothing that can be done. She simply raises the inner part of her eyebrows. "I just hate to see you like this." Miharu says after a second of staring.

Xiaoyu chuckles lightly. "Am I looking _that_ horrible?"

"Yes, you are." Miharu jokes, making an exaggerated expression to emphasize it playfully.

Xiaoyu cracks a faint smile, and hugs her friend. "Thank you."

* * *

 _[Day 9]_

 _Monday, 07:02 UTC (16:02 in local time)  
Seoul, South Korea_

Hwoarang gave up on trying to find the criminal who invaded his master's dojo. It was something impossible to do without any clues. He tried his best, of course, but, in the end, it just wasn't possible. He returned to Seoul on Sunday so he could take care of his master, who was going to be released from the hospital.

Although Baek insisted that Hwoarang should keep up his training, he disobeyed. There was no way he wouldn't cater to his master's health needs. Eventually, Baek simply gave up on trying to make his pupil do otherwise. Hwoarang's stubbornness, at least this time, is a result of concern.

Baek is currently taking a nap, so Hwoarang is free for now. He's currently in the kitchen, sitting at the table, silently sipping a glass of cold water as he thinks about the events that took place in the last few days.

Of course, the weekend's biggest news were Jin Kazama's wedding. It was impossible not to know about it. It was being talked about everywhere: on the television, on the newspapers, on the streets. When it was announced, Hwoarang was in a coffee shop having breakfast. The first thing that crossed his mind was ' _Kazama, you motherfucker_ ' as he smirked to himself – he was quite surprised. But it was quickly replaced by complete astonishment when he realized the bride was none other than Nina Williams.

He instantly thought of his friend, Steve. Although Nina and Steve are not close, they're still related by blood. Regardless of anything else, one thing is for sure: it's all complicated.

After wondering about that for a longer while, he came to another realization. He thought of his recently made friend Ling Xiaoyu. It must be hard for her – it was very clear that she liked Jin as more than a friend.

And now, here Hwoarang is, thinking of them again. _Maybe I should check up on them_. Leaving the kitchen, he goes to Baek's office. After the police did everything they had to, they gave permission to put things back in place. He gets the phone and tries to call Xiaoyu first, but her phone is out of service. He then calls Steve. After a few moments, there is an answer.

"Hwoarang! My pal!" Steve says in the other side of the line.

"Hey, man." Hwoarang greets him back. "What's up?"

"Not much. Just the usual training." He answers. "And the usual clubbing, of course!" They laugh. "You're lucky I'm a party guy, otherwise I wouldn't have been awake."

"Oh!" Hwoarang makes a facepalm. "I always forget those stupid time zones!" He says frustrated. "Sorry, man."

"Eh, relax, it's fine." Steve says dismissively. "Being awake at 2 a.m. is the usual business for me." They chuckle a bit again. "So tell me, have you had a change of heart and wants to come to Miami?"

Hwoarang laughs. "Damn man, I only wish."

"What is it?" Steve asks in a more serious tone.

Hwoarang sighs. "Some bastard invaded my master's dojo. Things didn't end up well for him, and now he's confined to bed."

"Oh, that's not nice. Is he alright?"

"Yes, he's getting better." Comes the answer. "Thanks, man."

"Is there anything I can do?" Steve's British accent is so thick this time that Hwoarang almost laughs.

But he doesn't. "No, we're good." He answers. "What about you? I mean, are you alright?"

"Yes, I am." Steve says confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your mother is getting married, you know." Hwoarang is terrible with soft approaches – even he can recognize that.

There is a silent second, which is broken by Steve's sigh. "I can't deny that I feel a bit uncomfortable. But it's not like I can do something – actually, it's not like something needs to be done. It's her life, I guess, and I'm not a part of it."

 _Fair enough_ , Hwoarang acknowledges. "I get what you mean." There is a brief pause. "Well, I just called to check up on you. Good to know you're good too."

"Thanks, man." Steve answers, bringing back the casual tone the conversation had on its beginning. "You still owe me that rematch." He says laughing.

Hwoarang chuckles back. "When things settle around here, I might visit you. Save some of Miami's tequila for me."

Both friends laugh and proceed to say their goodbyes, and Hwoarang puts the telephone back on its place.

 _Time to check up on Master again_ , he thinks as he heads towards Baek's room.

* * *

 _[Day 9]_

 _Monday, 22:04 UTC (23:04 in local time)  
Barcelona, Spain_

"HEY!" A mid-aged man of greyish brown hair screams, bringing his fist to the bar counter. His white shirt is covered in sweat – he's the usual 'bar alcoholic guy'. "Where's my drink?!"

"Perdón, perdón!" A woman answers in the other side of the counter, and hurries to the man's direction. "Could you please tell me what was it again?" She sounds and looks completely lost, and tired. She is wearing the place's simplistic clothes for employees: a pale purple T-shirt, black pants and a white apron.

"Oh, whatever!" He says in half-anger half-frustration. "Just give me a bottle of beer."

"Yes, sir, in a minute!" The waitress answers in a hurry. Not long after, she comes with the bottle of beer, but she can't even say 'Here you are' as another angry customer calls from the other side.

The bar is full of people. The usual bar alcoholics, just as that man, are sitting on the stools by the bar counter, as they usually do. The other kinds of clients are on the tables, being loud and having fun.

"Josie." A female voice calls the name of the tired waitress who's in charge of the bar.

Josie turns in a hurry, already expecting it to be another furious client. Upon seeing a co-worker, she sighs in relief. "Carla. It's you."

Carla is also a waitress, but she's always in charge of the tables only, while Josie always serves the bar. Her hair is a chobby black bob with blue ends, and her uniform is the same as Josie's.

"Are you okay?" Carla asks.

"Sí, sí." She says heaving out of tiredness.

"No, you're not." Carla insists. "Let me take the bar for a few minutes. Go get some fresh air."

Josie doesn't really decide anything. When it dawned on her, she was already outside, not wearing her apron, staring at the grey floor of the sidewalk, a few steps away from the bar entrance.

Breathing deeply, she slowly raises her head, until her nose is directly pointed towards the sky. During the process, her eyes were kept shut, and she feels the gentle breeze caress her once vivid face.

The best way to describe Josie's current state of spirit is as a 'wilted flower'. The petals of her heart sank deep in the cold waters of sorrow, and drowned in despair etched in the numbness of her mind.

With a wilted heart, comes a heavy mind. Any feeling she had simply died and turned into the zombies of her worries and fears currently haunting her thoughts. Her distress makes it impossible for her to forgive herself. The path for redemption is simply inexistent. She is out of reach and out of reality. Her body is there, but her mind is away, immersed on her own subconscious.

It is not usual of Josie to be in such a state. In fact, she has never been like this before, regardless of all the difficulties that have crossed her life. However, her grandmother was her safe haven.

But a little flame within her wants to come back to life. Her usual sassy and good mood wants to be brought back up. Her hope is crying for a place in her mind, and determination is screaming to bring her heart back to life. And with that, something crosses her mind. _Mi abuela wouldn't want me to be like this. She taught me to be strong, and that's how I should be_.

Although still upset, Josie gathers enough will to go back inside and continue working.

* * *

 _[Day 10 or 11]_

 _Either Tuesday or Wednesday, daytime  
Most likely a rainforest in somewhere unknown in South America_

Kazuya has been wandering lost for some days now. He has crossed mostly forests which were simply a green blur, but also some villages abandoned because of the war – those also a blur. Whenever the Devil within took over and flew just as lost as him, it would also be a blur. None of them could stop thinking about what took place back in Brasil.

Logical explanation is by far useless in this situation. When the woman turned, Kazuya had no time to actually look at her – that millisecond glimpse of her face was enough for Devil, who took the lead and flew away. And for the first time in years, that was not what Kazuya wanted to do. For the very first time since his return in the cloned body, his desires are no longer the same as the Devil's.

Kazuya had become the Devil made flesh, in the literal sense: they were the same person. The Devil's needs were Kazuya's needs, and there was simply no need for distinction.

When Kazuya was cloned, he was only able to recover his memories because the Devil made himself present again. Of course he did, it is genetic after all. But the Devil is no fool, and the memories he brought back to Kazuya were only the ones he deemed necessary. He would never bring back memories that, in his point of view, are unwanted.

Memories could be unwanted simply because they could, somehow, prevent his domination. Most things were intact – Kazuya indeed remembered Jun, Angel and the conflict within him during that time. However, he did not remember his feelings and how he actually doubted about the worth of the darkness he had been embracing so far at that time. All he would make out of those memories was that anything besides the need of doing the evil is complete nuisance and that the ultimate goal of life is to achieve power, and he rather despised himself for being so weak at that time.

And Kazuya had no reasons to contest such a thing. How could he? It was the only thing he knew of. He had no recollection of experiencing otherwise, thanks to Devil's manipulation, which he was obviously oblivious to. But now, he remembers. Now, he knows. Kazuya is disliking this whole situation. But so is the Devil.

Devil and Kazuya only had their consciences separated because of the only thing that had been able to weaken their evilness before: Jun. Just her existence is enough to do so, although they had thought it was the Forest Demon, an entity they aimed to dominate.

Forest Demon present or not, the Devil doesn't care anymore – now he just wants to _destroy_ Jun. He can't afford to lose his power again to her. Not now that things had been going so well for him.

Kazuya, however, is at a complete loss of himself. He doesn't even know what to make out of all this. He doesn't even know if he should think or do something, actually. And his full indecision is probably keeping him alive – the Devil might be just as lost, but he would be enraged if he sensed that Kazuya is becoming soft again.

Deciding that he has had enough of this, he speaks aloud, calling his counterpart. "Devil." His voice is low and deep.

There is a moment of silence before the Devil appears in front of him, as if it is a ghost. Devil has scales through the body, and the ones that are still there are now smaller. Also, he doesn't have dark green or dark blue colors through his body anymore; now there's only dark purple, although a bit lighter than it used to be. It is as if Devil has been weakened – and he indeed has been, in a sense. " **Kazuya.** "

After a silent second of staring each other, Kazuya talks. "Tell me."

" **What exactly?** " Devil says in a monotone voice, which is a haunting version of Kazuya's.

"Don't play dumb with me. You're in my mind, you know what I want to listen."

Devil's expression is a mix of anger, frustration and tiredness. He doesn't answer.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

" **She has to die.** " He says bitterly. And it wasn't what Kazuya asked.

"It doesn't matter anymore."

" **How doesn't it?** " Devil asks rather mockingly. " **After all this time, you still remember her** _ **lovingly**_ **.** " He says, saying 'lovingly' in the most despising tone _ever_.

Obviously, 'lovingly' is Devil's insulting way to say that Kazuya doesn't think of her with hatred, as he does to everything, but rather with nothing, actually. That's because Kazuya can't even make anything out of the whole revelation.

Or at least he couldn't. "It doesn't matter anymore." Kazuya repeats himself, this time even more certain than before. "There are still things that need to be settled." He has made his decision, regardless of what his mind tells himself. Unlike last time, now he knows that killing Heihachi, the primary goal, is more important.

Devil smirks. " **That's what I like to hear.** "

Kazuya sighs silently and turns his back to the purple guy, taking a couple steps. Kazuya is aware that he has loved Jun sometime in the past, or at least that's what his brand new memories tell him.

Besides, Jun is not even conscious – she is simply possessed by some spirit. What could she actually do to stop them? Her existence may be strong enough to separate them, but that's all. There's no point in wasting time with her when there are another things to be done. _**She's a nuisance**_ , Devil 'thinks' on Kazuya's mind.

To Devil, that's already enough. They may not be morphed anymore, but they're still very alike – and that should just do it. Unlike last time they were separated, this time Kazuya has no wishes of doing something besides the evil.

Kazuya starts walking again, now determined, although keeping his pace slow. He evokes the Devil within and flies away, heading back to the direction he presumes G Corporation is.

* * *

 _[Day 10]_

 _Tuesday, 01:02 UTC (09:02 in local time)  
Chengdu, Szechwan, China_

Xiaoyu, instead of going back to Tokyo, where she currently lives with Miharu, has decided to spend some time with her grandfather, Wang Jinrei. It's been a while since she hasn't seen him.

And rather conveniently, spending some time at her former residence might be good to her – she feels like needing to put her mind in order.

Besides all that, she would need to make a stop here regardless, since she needs to get Panda, who's been staying here since Xiaoyu's vacation to Italy started.

She has taken a cab from the airport, since her grandfather's place is a bit distant from the downtown. Now, she has been walking for about five minutes, pacing through relatively large stone pavement alleys, which work pretty much as a larger passage for pedestrians, as she carries her bags. She is surrounded by traditional restaurants, with wooden fronts full of red and golden yellow lamps, although they're all closed by this time of the day. The cloudy sky above is of white color, and the floor is a bit wet, which indicates that rain has poured some time ago.

Between two restaurants, there is a single wooden door with a bronze door knocker. Xiaoyu gently puts her bag on the ground and uses the rosy alloy implement with her now free right hand, making three loud sounds.

After about a minute, she hears a few steps approaching and a male voice speaking. "I'm coming!" She smiles as she recognizes whose voice it is.

The door is opened to reveal an old man dumbfounded to see her. "Xiaoyu! My dear." His face is now full of happiness.

"Grandpa Jinrei." She says, also smiling, as she bows. Jinrei does the same, and then they hug each other.

"Come in! Let me help you with the bags." He says.

"There's no need, Grandpa. I can handle it." She says reassuringly.

He nods once, acknowledging her insistence, and takes the lead. They go through a series of stairs and then reach the actual home, fully situated on the second floor. The place is mostly wooden and has a very traditional decoration. It smells like incense – _like home_ , she notes nostalgically.

"Your room is still intact, although a bit dusty, I can't deny." Jinrei says and chuckles slightly as they walk through a corridor.

"It's okay, Grandpa. I'll be accommodated." Her sweet smile is intact.

They stop in the end of the corridor. In the wall in front of them, there is a window and a small and rustic lowboy, consisting of two of the same dark greyish brown wood of the rest of the place. Jinrei grabs an old key out of the first drawer, and uses it to open the door on the right wall. It opens to reveal a child's room full of pink – contrasting drastically to the rest of the house.

"There you are, dear." Jinrei says as he gives his granddaughter some space to pass through the door with the bags. "Oh, and we have company. A friend of mine is spending some time here, training with me."

Xiaoyu frowns for a second, and then turns to her grandfather again. "Really?"

"Yes." He answers. "Breakfast is going to be ready soon." He drops the previous subject.

"I think I'm going to rest a bit, Grandpa. But I'll join you for lunch."

"Alright." He says. "You're already pretty grown to make your decisions." He chuckles lightly. "I'll let you accommodate yourself." He bows once as to indicate he's going to leave. "It's good to have you back." He says smiling before closing the door.

Xiaoyu smiles to him as he does so, giving a short bow. Deciding that not only she doesn't need, but also doesn't feel like putting all her clothes in the wardrobe, she simply puts her bags inside there.

After doing so, she gets a towel and goes to her suite's bathroom. She looks at herself in the mirror. She looks different. For the first time in her life, her hair has grown more. She unties her low ponytails as she remembers she'd always cut her hair shorter while growing up. She'd also always straighten it, but while her vacation to Italy, she didn't do it – not even once. And she actually likes it curly, the thing is that she used to be too lazy to take proper care to it, so straightening was always the quickest option.

Also, her wardrobe is now renewed, thanks to the shopping she did with Miharu and Lili, she continues thinking as she takes off her garment, which are indeed new clothes – a beautiful dark blue dress, and puts it on a basket for dirty laundry. Xiaoyu smiles faintly as she remembers her new acquaintance. _It was very kind of her to do it._ She wonders what might have gone through the girl's mind as she gets in the shower and turns it on.

But more than any of that, she doesn't only look different – she _is_ different.

* * *

 _[Day 10]_

 _Tuesday, 03:23 UTC (12:23 in local time)  
Kyoto, Japan_

Kunimitsu is still at the same dusty dark room somewhere in the undergrounds of Kyoto, where of the Manji Clan's installations is situated. Her head is hanging low, and through her white fox mask she is able to see her light purple short kimono and also the knee-length white boots on her legs.

Talking about legs, they're paler than usual – thanks to her current health state. Even though she's been given food, she is unable to move because of the silver chains tying her to the iron chair. According to her estimates, she has been locked for 6 days straight.

And talking about being locked, the iron door is suddenly opened and someone occupies the free chair in front of her. She already knows who it is, even though she hasn't looked up. She's pretty sure only _he_ can enter this chamber to talk to her. If she was healthier, she would have looked up– actually, she wouldn't even have dropped her head in first place – but she's too weak to care about looking weak right now.

A male and distorted voice calls her name. "Kunimitsu." It is indeed who she thought - Yoshimitsu. She doesn't bother to answer, she knows him too well, and she's very aware that he'll notice her state and do something about it.

And as if he has read her mind, he gets up and calls someone through the now opened door. Kunimitsu hear some noises until the door is closed one more time and he sits again, putting a tray on the table.

"Kunimitsu." He calls again in his distorted voice. This time, she looks up, sensing the smell of food. He helps her eat, and after about 10 minutes, the foods of the tray are over and he simply pushes it aside.

"You said you want to settle things. Tell me about it." He says after a silent minute.

Kunimitsu keeps herself silent for some time, and then speaks. "There's nothing left for me to say. I'm an open book."

"Written in an alien language."

"I'm not the space ninja of this room."

He brings his closed right fist with all his might on the table. "Stop it." He says in a monotone, contrasting to what he has just done. "Stop evading."

This is a very rare moment in which he demonstrates anger – Kunimitsu can count those on her fingers. She rises her head a bit more before she speaks. "How can I not evade?"

There is a silent second before he answers. "By being logical."

"Not everything is a result of logic." She says calmly. "You, of all people, should know that." She makes a pause. "You are the leader of a Clan that has acts of good faith as a primary objective, even if through sinuous ways. And goodness is far away of being logical, after all, the easiest way to survive in such a sleazy world is to be corrupt."

"If you know so much about logic and corruption, why have you done such immoral acts?"

"As I've said, sometimes it is necessary to go through sinuous ways to achieve a greater good."

"I understand that. I simply don't understand what greater good you were fighting for."

Kunimitsu stops talking. Yoshimitsu waits patiently for about a minute, until he breaks the silence. "I thought you were an open book."

"You thought right, then. I am. Simply read me."

They stare at each other intently, although neither faces are visible. Taking a more attentive look on Yoshimitsu, she is able to see how his outfit is more exotic than ever. It is where a skeleton structure on display meets bright red muscle-alike armor.

"You're not going to say it." He concludes.

"Not like this." She adds.

"So you want to be released?"

"That's not what I meant." She answers. "Although I wouldn't complain about it."

"What did you mean, then?"

"It's simply something I would never tell Yoshimitsu."

"Stop evading."

"I don't trust you."

After saying it out loud, the heaviness of its meaning actually hit the room. So far, she had only been indirect about it. Silence falls upon them as Yoshimitsu's tentacles move slightly before going motionless again.

"I don't see a way out of this." Yoshimitsu's voice echoes over the long muteness that had been dominating the room.

"I do."

"Things don't work like that."

"It's about time they do."

The quietness accommodates itself between them, for once more. This time, however, it takes less for a voice to take its place, as Kunimitsu speaks rephrasing the other. "Stop evading."

Yoshimitsu turns his head to look away. He is either emotional, hopeless or pondering, – most likely the last one, Kunimitsu deducts – but it is impossible to actually determine it when there is a mask covering his face. After a couple minutes, he faces her directly again and talks. "There is a way, indeed." He says. "As the Yoshimitsu, I will give you one last chance of mercy." He makes a brief pause. "But it's not what you think it is."

* * *

 _[Day 10]_

 _Tuesday, 04:09 UTC (12:02 in local time)  
Chengdu, Szechwan, China_

Out of all the clothes Xiaoyu has bought in Milan, this is by far her favorite. She looks at herself in the mirror proudly of such a fashionable result.

Even though bought in Europe, the garment is very Asian. It is a darkish orange sleeveless button Cheongsam, a Mandarin gown, made of silk, tight in the torso, and then falling loosely from her waist until the ground, but fully exposing her legs in the front. It has black and yellow outlines the edges, and also black faux feathers on the shoulder holes and the skirt edge, with a deep red interior visible behind her legs. It is accompanied by black leggings with gold line designs on her left thigh and her right calf, and flat shoes of the same orange of the dress, also with gold outlines. As accessories, she wears a black and gold bracelet on her right wrist and a fingerless glove of similar design on her left forearm.

If it wasn't for her ponytails, even though they're hanging lower than usual, and also even though they're curly, it would probably be impossible for someone to recognize Xiaoyu. She spins on her heels to see the whole garment one last time, the skirt and the ponytails flying graciously, before she leaves her bedroom aiming the dining room for lunch.

When she gets there, she happily bows to the two men who are by the table. One of them is her grandfather, sitting by the end of the table. The other must be the guest Jinrei talked about, and he's sitting by Jinrei's left.

She takes a seat by her grandfather's right side, and her grandfather starts talking. "Dear, I want you to meet Feng Wei, the guest I've told you about." Then he turns to said guest. "Wei, this is Ling Xiaoyu, my granddaughter."

"Nice to meet you." Xiaoyu nods to him, smiling discreetly. Wei nods back politely, in silence, with a stern face.

The three start serving themselves, and Xiaoyu takes a glimpse of Wei. He is quite scary, in lack of a better term. His face reads as pure roughness and, most notably (at least to Xiaoyu), he's got some weird eyebrows. He wears a golden yellow qipao shirt with red and green kung fu pants and shoes.

"So dear, tell me about your vacation." Jinrei starts a conversation, in his good mood, as always.

Xiaoyu takes a second to swallow and then answers. "Oh, it was very nice. We had a lot of fun. Italy is a beautiful country."

"How is it there?" Jinrei asks.

"Oh, historical architecture is everywhere, but the country is also very modern." She answers forcing herself to look and sounds as excited as possible, just as she has been doing since her arrival. She's still quite saddened, and would rather like to be alone with her own thoughts, but since that is not an excuse for rudeness, she's acting as kind as she can in the moment.

But she has forgotten her grandfather knows her too well. Jinrei has sensed something wrong with her since she stepped in. She wasn't overly excited as she usually is, mainly on such a situation in which she just went on vacation. She would have started talking about the trip herself, just to say the least. "I'm happy you had fun." He says, ending the subject.

The room goes silent, and one by one, they finish their meals. Wei is the first to do so, and bows politely before leaving. As he does so, Jinrei speaks again. "Xiaoyu, my dear, tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong, Grandpa." She responds flatly.

"How many times have I told you not to lie? That's not something morally correct. Besides, you have no reasons to lie to me."

Xiaoyu sighs and takes her eyes out of her plate to look at her grandfather. He has a point. She decides to just spit it out. "It's Jin."

For a second, Jinrei looks as if he doesn't know what she's talking about, but then he seems to have a sudden click. "Oh dear, don't let him take the best out of you." He says concerned.

"He could never." She says, this time with a sincere smile, as she gets up since she has finished her meal. "I'm just a bit upset, that's all. It's still sinking in, I guess."

Jinrei senses the truthfulness. "I see." He smiles back warmly. "Why don't you train a bit with us? It might help you focus."

 _He's right. I should focus on something. And it's about time to take it my fighting a bit more seriously_. She smiles sincerely one more time. "I guess you're right. I will, Grandpa. Thank you." Jinrei automatically gets up and they hug each other.

"Training always starts half an hour after lunch, in the dojo, of course. Be ready by then." He says as they release each other. Both start cleaning the table, but Jinrei stops her from doing so. "There's no need. I can handle it. Take some rest before the training."

She smiles faintly, bows and leaves. Xiaoyu gets inside her bedroom, locks the door and lays her back on the bed. She stares at the dark colored ceiling as she thinks. _This is so much like the time Grandpa wanted me to get closer to my parents_ , she recalls. When she was 14 years old, she started seeing her parents in Hong Kong during some weekends and school breaks. She remembers that they knew how she loved amusement parks, so they'd always take her there, to compensate for their absence in her childhood. But their relationship was still strained regardless, so when they revealed she was going to live with them because Jinrei was getting too old, she got very upset and ran away.

She decided that if she could build her own amusement park, she would be able to live on her own. When she took a glimpse of a Mishima Zaibatsu ship, she realized that Heihachi Mishima, Zaibatsu's CEO at the time and also a fighter, was rich enough to help her achieve her dreams, so she invaded it aiming to challenge him.

Even though he was not there, he learned of her presence and as he arrived on the port, he offered her a deal that if she was able to win the upcoming Tekken tournament, she would get the amusement park of her dreams. She accepted it, but since she was 15, her legal guardians, her parents, had to be contacted. They accepted without thinking twice, although her grandfather was very apprehensive. Shortly afterwards she moved to Tokyo and lived there under Heihachi's guidance.

At first, one may think such a situation has nothing to do with what's going on with her right now. But it does, really – the thing is that something sad took place, and she decided to release it through fighting. She did it then, and she's about to do it now again.

She turns her head to see the pink alarm clock on the nightstand. _It's time to train_. She allows herself to smirk, and finding a bit of excitement and determination out of nowhere, she gets up and goes through the corridor aiming the dojo room.

* * *

 _[Day 10]_

 _Tuesday, 23:54 UTC (18:54 in local time)  
Miami, Florida, United States of America_

"50 bucks Paul's next." Marshall says hitting the surface with his right palm, and everybody on the table laughs loudly.

"Hell no, man!" Paul says, just as loudly, shaking is hands dismissively.

"50 bucks on me too! That's definitely something I'd _literally_ pay to see!" Bob says, and they all chuckle once more.

"Hey Uncle Paul, I'm gonna be your best man, right?" Forest says, and they all laugh again.

"Fuck off, Forest!" Paul says angrily. They only laugh again.

The five friends – Steve, Forest, Marshall, Paul and Bob – are on a bar having some liquor, talking and laughing loudly as they usually do while getting wrecked. The night is young, the place is crowded, the atmosphere is lively, and the booze is cool.

Forest and Marshall keep joking as Paul keeps giving angry replies and Bob only laughs. Bob had come with Paul back from New York City, and was well-accepted quickly in the group – there weren't any reasons for him not be, anyway. While that, Steve calls a waitress. When she comes over, Steve is quite surprised – he knows her.

"Katarina? You work here?" She is wearing all black simplistic clothes, but also her signature white high-heels.

"Not really. But it's a long story." She lies. She's here specifically tonight for a very specific reason. "You know, you said you'd give me a call." She changes the subject, analyzing him from head to toe. He wears a long-sleeved white button shirt and red faux leather pants, matched with a white pair of sneakers.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I was outta town." He says, and it is really the truth.

She narrows her eyes playfully, but there's no reason for her not to believe him. "Well, wanna go out tomorrow night?" She asks quite seductively. "I'm gonna be free, you know, and there's a nice place I want to take you to."

He smirks. "Sure."

She smirks back. "I presume that, as a British guy, you've never been to Red Lobster, have you?" _(Beyoncé's "Formation" reference – YAASSS!)_

"Well, you're right, I haven't." He shrugs.

"That's where we're going, then." She raises a playful eyebrow. The smirk is still there.

His smirk also hasn't left. "I'll call you tomorrow." He says. "And this time's for sure."

She then drops the subject since she's at her 'working' place. "Well, can I take your order?"

Steve asks for another round of beer and she leaves. He turns back to his friends. Paul's embraced by a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans, contrasting with Marshall's bright orange button shirt and black slacks. Forest wears a dark green polo shirt and grey shorts, and Bob has a white T-shirt on, combined with beige slacks. Now, Paul is the one mocking Forest and Marshall, for whatever reason, as Bob continues on watching and laughing only.

Forest, however, gets out of the conversation and starts another one with Steve only. "Is this love what I'm seeing here?" He jokes as he makes a sign with his head, pointing to where Katarina was just a minute ago.

"Hell no." Both laugh. "Just some fun. It doesn't kill, does it?" He raises his shoulders jokingly.

Forest taps Steve's shoulder twice. "You're such a player." He says with a mischievous tone of voice and takes a sip of beer from his glass.

 **End of Chapter Seven**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** Ladies and gentleman, chapter 7 with 13300 words **!** _YAASSS!_

SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE! I TRIED MY BEST, I SWEAR, BUT SCHOOL FUCKS ME UP EVERYTIME! _*cries in despair*_

 _** I feel like it's important to warn you that minor edits have been done in the previous chapters. If you have already read them before the changes, you do not necessarily need to re-read the story – they do not affect the plot, only the formatting – but it is up to your decision. It's just that I realized a few typing errors and some stupid mistakes of my own._

( _Hey, just wanted to say I'm working on another Tekken stories - In fact, two of them even have already been uploaded - just in case you guys have any interest. :)_ )

Introducing: Unknown/Forest Demon and Jun Kazama _**(YAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS! ! ! ! !)**_ , Yoshimitsu, Wang Jinrei, Feng Wei, Doctor Bosconovitch (now in person!), and Mr. Nobuo Kazama (Asuka's guardian – his first name chosen by me, meaning 'faithful man').  
And also Carla, a minor OC.

By the way, I've finally decided which turn to take with Kunimitsu (quite a few hints have already been given in this chapter). Be prepared for future plot twists – not only regarding her, but other characters too.

The last part I wrote of this chapter was Josie's. I was inspired by Kelela's song "A Lie". The vibe of it really matches Josie's spiritual state, so I'm leaving the song's name in here. If you're fond of alternative music, I assure you'll like it. :)

 ***ANSWERING*** alwaysdoubted – Thank you! It's good to see you around here again. :)

The Secret Judge – Thank you! I mean yeah, it was a surprise for the public, but it had been previously planned by 'the allies' (Jin, Nina, Lars, Raven, Lee, etc.). And I can't wait to see you make a 'globe-hopping' fanfiction! I like your writing.

Wyatt B – Thank you very much! It really means a lot. I'll try my best to update as soon as I can. :)

Tre cool, Hoewre, Fred, Mix, Ships, and Tips – Although I'm pretty convinced you're all the same person, well, just relax, because _yes, Kazumi is going to be in here_. As I said in an answer to a review in a previous chapter (but it was in Portuguese, because the reviewer was a fellow compatriot), I'm attempting to be as canonical as possible in this story and _she's definitely going to appear, just as Akuma_. The thing is that, for now, I have to focus on another factors and make ground for a few characters.

giovanna21d – Nossa discussão ideológica sobre Tekken tá ficando muito grande KK, então te mandei uma PM pra gente continuar a conversa (na verdade, a gente já trocou umas boas PMs bem antes desse capítulo sair, mas enfim KK, finge que é novidade -n).  
Obrigada pelas reviews, elogios e por acompanhar a minha história! s2

ZZ Eclipse – Great to see you again! I'm trying my best to keep up. Hope you liked this one! There hasn't been much of Miguel as I need to focus a bit more on Josie right now.

Reibun – You wouldn't believe how anxious I was to read your review! I had become worried after a while, but I'm glad to see you again. :) I'm sorry to tell you that there won't be much of Xiaoyu/Miharu/Lili for now, because another direction had to be taken (as you can see in this chapter), but perhaps something more can be done in the future, depending to where the story goes. "You're Nina Williams. You can do anything" has to be one of my favorite lines of my own story (:P), really, and I'm happy I'm not the only one who loves the impact and meaning of it. About the rest, well, many things you've mentioned have been dealt with in this chapter, and another ones will be dealt with in the following ones.

Thank you guys _very_ much and see you next time! :P


	8. A Clockwork Orange

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter 8: A Clockwork Orange**

 _[Day 11]_

 _Wednesday, 09:13 UTC (11:13 in local time)  
Cairo, Egypt_

Zafina has been walking for about ten minutes now, and has finally spotted the light beige buildings of her village. It is situated in a remote area of Cairo, far away from the actual urban space. She took a taxi on the airport and the driver stopped the car when there was no further highway for it to follow. From there, she had to go on foot.

She's wearing the same black shirt, white pants and blue accessories since the first plane flight she got to come home.

A part of her mind is full of worry, thanks to her recent vision, but the other half is filled with ease as she gets closer and closer to her home place. This is where she belongs, and no matter how far she goes, her heart will always bring her back here.

As she gets closer, she frowns slightly to see the main sandy lane completely empty. At this time of day, the kids are usually playing in the middle of the path and the adults are in the front of their homes.

Instead of the vivid community, the place feels like a ghost town, and she senses something is wrong, although she can't pinpoint what it is. She keeps on walking, slowly, eyeing every corner she can to look for at least a single life sign.

She reaches her house after a few minutes. As she gets inside, she leaves her things on her bedroom without much care and leaves the building to continue investigating. Her walking rhythm is now faster, although she doesn't have any specific direction. She keeps stepping on the sandy ground rapidly, almost running, crossing the many lanes hoping to spot someone, as she keeps spinning to look around, starting to get worried and desperate.

She doesn't know how much time has passed, but it was a rather considerable one before she is able to see a crowd of people on their knees. She instantly recognizes the guru's house.

Suddenly, the door opens, and Jasmine, Zafina's friend, is reveled. Jasmine's dark blue long dress and silver jewelry contrasts with the pale brown landscape of their surroundings. Jasmine keeps staring at Zafina with a wide-eyed expression, but it's clear the woman's effort to remain stern. As she does so, the crowd turns to what Jasmine is staring, which is Zafina herself, although they all keep kneeled.

Zafina's face is simply confusion, since she doesn't know what's going on. While that, the people's faces show the same expression, one that mixes desperation and hope.

"Thanks to the heavens you're back." Jasmine says with a half-breathed voice.

"What happened?" Zafina asks worriedly. Since Jasmine is the village's healer, it would be fair, to say the least, to think the Guru might be ill, just as Zafina is thinking right now.

Jasmine simply steps away from the door, unblocking the passage. Getting the cue, Zafina crosses the crowd and steps in. She follows Jasmine until they stop at a bedroom – the Guru's bedroom.

The Guru is laying on the bed, with covers over him, and has a very unhealthy look. He seems tired, but not because of lack of sleep, but rather because of some sort of illness.

Zafina's hope is replaced by desperation. Wide-eyed and frowning, she keeps eyeing both the Guru and Jasmine, in hopes that one of them responds to the following question. "What happened?" She repeats her earlier sentence.

"Shortly after you went to México, he fell ill." Jasmine gives a short explanation. "I'm going to leave you both alone. He needs to talk to you." She says. "Please call me when you're finished – I'll be in the living room."

She exits the room instantly after saying her words, leaving behind a Zafina in state of shock. She stays like that for about a minute or so, until she snaps out of it and takes a seat on a chair beside the bed.

She grabs his left hand, and as she does so, he speaks. "I'm afraid my time has come."

"No!" Zafina says, tears starting to fall. "You can't leave us."

"Unfortunately, my pupil, as I've taught you, somethings simply can't be changed." He says, his tone as deep and mature as always, although his voice is a bit faint.

"There must be a way." She says rapidly, trying to find some solution, as if it was going to make him not die.

He smiles faintly at her hope of tables turning. "I'm afraid there isn't." He says. "As I've taught you on one of your first lessons, everything in the life experience is chosen by each one of us – even fate. But in order to evolve our spirits, there are certain events that are chosen before we come to flesh, and left unknown to us when our spirits are incorporated into this world." He explains. "You see, now that I'm passing away, I realize this is the moment I must've chosen to go."

Zafina nods in understanding, but keeps herself silent, letting her emotions ride her tears away as she hangs her head down.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully." He says, and Zafina looks up. "You are very bright, my pupil, and I'm sure you know that the prophecy did not happen."

Although he has only made a pause, Zafina speaks before he opens his mouth again. "That thought would never leave my mind."

"The two stars did not clash." He says matter-of-factly, and she nods quickly. She keeps eyeing him, desperately needing answers. "That's not because the prophecy was wrong, but rather because a piece of it was interpreted wrongly."

Zafina raises both her eyebrows in surprise, and waits for him to continue. "It never mentioned _two_ evil stars. It never mentioned a number – only the plural." He says. "A new star may be rising somewhere in this world." He continues. "And it might be the missing key."

Silence installs itself in the room for a few seconds, before Zafina talks. "May I have your guidance? For one last time perhaps?"

"What for?"

"I've had a vision, Guru."

"I see." He acknowledges why she's mentioning the vision. It has something to do with the other star. "As always, I only hope I can be helpful."

She smiles faintly at him, but her face goes serious as she recalls the scenes that crossed her mind in a previous night.

"The first moment showed the two evil stars of my last premonitions – shining in purple and in black, situated far away from each other." She says. "However, differently from the last time, what happened next was the birth of another star. That third star was white, but there was some purple and green fog surrounding it. As it arose, the sun did the same, and the darkness of the night sky started to go away as both the purple and the black stars reached out for the green one."

The Guru nods in acknowledgement, but keeps himself silent since he knows she hasn't finished. She silently sighs once before continuing. "Both stars were very slow, but the purple one was faster and managed to touch the white star. And as it did so, it was tossed away and the white star simply disappeared."

She looks to her Guru looking for reassurance, and he makes a slight move of the head as to show her to keep on talking. "The Sun stopped rising, but night didn't fall again – it was like the sky had been frozen in the spot. Then, the purple and black stars were wandering lost again, until a fourth star was born. It was both red and white, and it attracted the purple and the black stars, and also the third star of before, which reappeared." She makes a brief pause. "Then the vision ended, leaving my mind in a blank." She then exhales, relieved to put it out.

The Guru silently stares to an unspecific spot of the room, away from Zafina's gaze, and falls into a deep state of thought. By this time, Zafina has already given up trying to hide her desperation, and it is all over her face.

"So it didn't show you what happened afterwards." He says, half-asking but also half-concluding. His gaze is still away.

"No, it didn't." She says. "There's no way to know what happens after they clash, that is, if they even clash."

"We are both very aware of who the purple and black stars represent." He says, and then looks to Zafina.

She nods. "I just can't understand the other two stars."

"Whoever they are, they are good, and there is no doubt about it." He says, completely certain. "Even though evilness has come upon them, their pure essence was never lost in any extent."

"But what about the other colors?"

"It is hard to say specifically, but presuming that they represent evilness wouldn't be far from accurate." He turns his gaze to the random spot he had been staring before.

Zafina frowns heavily. "Nothing is making any sense." She says as she shakes her head confusedly.

The Guru frees his hand from her grip and puts it on her shoulder as he turns to her again and speaks. "Exploring the unknown requires tolerating uncertainty. The path to understanding is sinuous and full of obstacles, but if the explorer is really willing to go through, the destination will be enlightening."

Zafina looks down, but when the Guru starts coughing, she looks up again with an even more worried expression on her face. He lets go of her shoulder and puts his hand on his mouth, to cover his coughs.

"Zafina." His voice is raspier and fainter now. "Please call Jasmine."

Zafina gets up quickly and opens the bedroom door. She eyes Jasmine from her spot, and the healer instantly gets up from the couch and goes to Zafina's direction.

Both are now inside the bedroom, and Zafina goes back to her chair by the Guru's left as Jasmine kneels by the man's right. Both women hold each of his hands and wear a worried expression.

"Jasmine. I'm afraid time is knocking on my door." He says, and Jasmine controls a sob. "You're are going to be the witness of my indication of Zafina as the new guru."

Zafina gasps shocked, and Jasmine turns to her with a surprised expression. "Zafina." The Guru says, eyeing her too. "You are to follow the lineage of guardians. Your duties will be taking care of the people, leading them to knowledge and peace, and guarding the tombs, the heritage of our people."

"You can't leave us." Zafina says controlling the urge to cry. "Besides, I'm not capable of becoming the new guardian."

The Guru chuckles lightly, only to cough a couple times more, before he speaks again. "I was younger than you when I assumed the post." He says. "And far less powerful, I might add." He smiles faintly to her. "You've been already taking care of one of the tombs, and you've been doing just fine. I'm sure you'll be a great guardian."

"Nobody will ever replace you." Zafina says, and this time she can't control her sobs. It makes Jasmine breakdown and she starts sobbing too.

The only sound in the room now is their crying as the Guru passes away silently, and in peace.

* * *

 _[Day 11]_

 _Wednesday, 12:00 UTC (09:00 in local time)  
_ _Island of Trindade and Martim Vaz, State of Espírito Santo, Brasil_

Julia and Bruce successfully reached the small town, and from there, contacted G Corporation. Bruce called G Corporation's headquarters only to find Lee in command. He sent them a plane and transported them to a very secret and improvised facility of G Corporation, where they've been since yesterday, receiving treatment for their wounds and proper nutrition after experiencing poor condition of alimentation for days on the jungle.

Thanks to G Corporation's assistance in Brasil's war, the Brazilian Navy guaranteed them a space for operations in the Island of Trindade and Martim Vaz, situated in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, 1,200 kilometers east of the country, where they've built a modest facility for genetic studies and health assistance.

The mysterious woman has also been brought, and had been resting ever since their arrival, although she has now just waken up and is having breakfast from a food tray recently brought by a doctor. Julia and Bruce are currently watching her through a window that doesn't allow her to see them.

"What do we do with her?" Julia asks.

"Nothing, I guess. Kazuya gave no orders to what to do with her." Bruce answers.

"And Lee also hasn't given any orders." Julia completes his sentence, and Bruce nods in agreement.

Silence falls upon them again as they watch the mysterious woman intently. The woman is sitting on a bed in a health care room, and is eating rather disinterested, even though considering everything she's been through. _It's like her mind is far away from here_ , Julia notes mentally.

"Should we talk to her?" Julia breaks the silence. Bruce simply shrugs in response, and although he is just as curious, he decides he has had enough of this and leaves the room with an annoyed face. "I guess it shouldn't do harm." Julia talks to herself after a sigh, shrugging too.

Julia leaves the small watching room, takes a few steps in the corridor and enters the woman's room. Closing the door behind her, Julia gets a nearby chair and pulls it to sit beside the bed, by the woman's left. After taking her seat, Julia speaks. "How are you feeling?"

The woman finishes chewing, and then swallows, before answering. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"Could you please tell me, _um_ , well, what was going on with you?"

"It is no longer important." The woman says matter-of-factly.

Julia frowns rather pissed off. "Who are you?"

"That's also unimportant. All you need to know is that I'm thankful for your help and that I mean no harm." The woman says calmly, and then resumes her eating.

"That's not what it looked like." Julia says, raising a petulant eyebrow.

The woman doesn't answer. Julia sighs, and gives up asking as she comes to the conclusion that the other will most definitely not answer anything. Analyzing the woman's white hospital clothes, her eyes lock with the pendant, which wasn't removed for safety reasons. Julia frowns again, this time because of confusion, as she percepts something different in the necklace. There is some sort of writing in it, and the jewels have turned from red to blue.

"Excuse me, but may I take a look?" Julia asks pointing to the collar.

Coincidentally, the woman finishes her meal as Julia makes the question, and she puts the tray on a table by her right. She then turns to Julia and leans slightly so the other can look at it. Julia grabs it to pull it closer, but only finds that the text is written in a language unknown to her.

"Do you know what is written in here?" Julia asks in hopes that the woman knows. Julia lets go of the pendant, and the woman grabs it. Only with a glimpse of it, the woman knows that she can't understand the message, so she drops it and simply makes a 'no' with her head.

Julia sighs. "I'll let you rest for now. But I need to investigate about the pendant, whether you like it or not." The woman simply nods in both agreement and understanding, so Julia stands and leaves.

 _What a mysterious woman_.

* * *

 _[Day 11]_

 _Wednesday, 21:59 UTC (22:59 in local time)  
Barcelona, Spain_

Gradually, the delicate flower is starting to live again, progressively drying itself up from the rain of disappointment that had plagued its own forest. The vividness of its own jungle is beginning to resurge, as the torment has already stopped, and the darkish clouds are the only remains of it.

Gradually, Josie is starting to live normally again, progressively letting go of the bitter sentiments that had haunted her mind. Her vividness is starting to return, as the pain has vanished, and resentment and remembrance are the only remains of it.

Very well aware that her grandmother didn't raise her to live based on sorrow, she is now living again full steam ahead. Every now and then, mainly before or during her sleep, her mind would be dominated by flows of thoughts or dreams of the sad events of the past. Besides those moments, however, Josie is now more determined than ever before. She took a vow that she is going to honor her grandmother, and she's not one to change her mind about such important things.

Wearing her work uniform, a pale purple T-shirt with black simplistic pants and a white apron, she's serving the customers more efficiently than ever before. As she moves rapidly, yet somehow graciously, from one side to another, she takes their orders, which range from simple bottles of beers to sophisticated drinks. As this is a middle-class bar, the goers have all kinds of tastes when it comes to alcohol. Popular beer, fine wine, everything.

A person approaches the bar counter and takes a seat, staring at Josie on the other side of the black desk. He is an enormous man, of tanned skin and black messy hair, with a bit of beard, and he is wearing a worn orange button shirt and black leather pants.

When Josie turns, she spots that man, and they exchange one-second blank stares in acknowledgement of each other, before she walks to his direction.

"Good night." She says, in a tone a bit more serious than the casual and sympathetic one she usually uses with other clients. "May I take your order?"

After a second or so, Miguel shifts his vision to the many beverages behind her. It takes just as quick for him to look her in the eyes again and, stoically, speak. "I want a beer. Any brand is good."

"In a minute." She says, and quickly goes a few steps away from him to get the bottle. When she's back, Miguel hasn't changed his position. She serves him silently, filling his glass.

She was about to turn and leave, but Miguel spoke up. "So, you work here now?" He asks. "I've never seen you here before."

"Sí." She answers. "I got the job not long ago."

"I guess we'll be seeing each other quite often, then." He says, and then sips some beer.

With a bit more casual atmosphere in between them, Josie allows herself to smile. "I guess so." As someone calls her from another part of the counter, she says "Excuse me." and then goes to the direction of the client.

Miguel keeps eyeing her silently as he drinks his cool beer.

* * *

 _[Day 11]_

 _Wednesday, 23:10 UTC (18:10 in local time)  
Miami, Florida, United States of America_

Steve and Katarina are on their date, in lack of a better word, at Red Lobster. They've chosen a table by the window, yet also in a corner, and from there they can watch everybody else – either the people inside or outside.

Both of them are here with second intentions, although those are not the same.

They've already made their order. In fact, they're already eating. During the night, they have talked about many random topics, including the one of now.

"So, you're really a boxer?" Katarina asks.

"Yes." Steve answers.

"We should spar together, or something like that." She says. "It'd be nice."

"Yes, we-"

" _Are you kidding me?!_ " A scream coming from another table interrupts Steve, and both he and Katarina turn to see what's going on, just like everybody else in the restaurant.

In a table relatively far away, in the center of the place, a young man of black skin is standing beside his chair, looking to a waiter. The man has a brown black power, and his clothes are very colorful and quite old-fashioned. It's like he was taken out of Jackson 5.

"You guys made me wait for 45 minutes _only_ to serve me the _wrong_ dish?!" He says angrily. "I want my money back _now_!"

The waiter is visibly scared because of the outburst, but tries to respond as calmly as possible. "Alright, sir. Please follow me to the cash desk so we can resolve the situation."

Both indeed go there and the rest of the people start resuming their conversations, including Steve and Katarina.

"What a dummy." Steve says.

"A what?" Katarina asks almost laughing, because it sounded quite weird.

"A 'dummy'. Don't you know what it is?"

"I've never heard that in my life."

"It's like, he's an idiot."

"Oh," she says in realization "that I know." Then she makes a question. "Is that something from Britain?"

Then Steve gets why she asked. "Yes, I guess you could say so."

Katarina sighs. "He sort of rained on the parade here."

"Wanna ask for the bill?"

"Unless if you wanna stay here longer."

"It's just fine."

When Katarina finally manages to call a waiter, he gives them their bill but says it needs to be paid on the cash desk. Steve and Katarina, then, get up and go there, where they find the 'dummy'.

"Thanks for spoiling everybody else's fun, lunatic." Katarina says under her breath.

"I didn't do anything." He answers. " _They_ did. If they think they can treat Tiger Jackson like a fool, they're wrong."

"Acting like that just proves that they indeed should treat you like a fool." Steve says.

"Just shut the hell up, really." He says annoyed as he turns back to the cashier and finally gets his money back.

"Scared of me?" He doesn't stop.

Tiger turns to them and stares at them through his sunglasses. Why someone would wear those at night is beyond Katarina's knowledge, until she remembers that she has done that quite a few times. He's wearing white boots, grey pants with rainbow suspenders over an orange long-sleeved button shirt.

"Who do you think you are?" He says in a tone of half-curiosity and half-threatening.

"The real question is who _you_ think you are, acting like that." Steve continues, now talking in a bit more threatening tone too.

Tiger stares at the two for another second. She wears a white jacket that has a peacock print in the tips, which covers her whole torso, combined with slacks of white and blue stripes, and white high-heels, while he wears a red button shirt with light beige pants.

"Can you guys cut that off already? Leave it alone." Katarina interrupts.

Tiger now stares at her, although this time for a bit less time. "You were the one who started it. Who do you think you are to say otherwise now?"

She narrows her eyes before simply punching him in the nose. Steve leaves some money on the counter quickly as Tiger holds his bleeding nose.

"You insolent bitch." He says.

Before Tiger is able to throw a hit of his own, Steve interrupts again, putting a hand on the man's chest to hold him back. "Hey, disco-dummy, wanna a few rounds? Let's go outside then."

Tiger narrows his eyes towards Steve for a second before he exits the place, followed by both Katarina and Steve a few meters behind.

"Remember about that sparring talk?" Steve asks. "Perhaps this might be funnier." He smirks.

She smirks back. "Some fun might be good." She says. "Besides, he deserves it."

The three are already in the parking lot.

"What's the name of the two pigs?" Tiger asks mockingly. "I deserve, at least, to know the name of the little puppies."

"I'm Katarina, psycho."

"You're the one who's got a pet name, yet we're the animals?" Steve mocks him back. "I don't get it."

"You're think you're such a smart ass, huh?" Tiger says. "Do you have a name or not?"

"It's Steve, moron."

"Can you stop blabbering already?" Katarina interrupts. "Let's see if you can fight as much as you talk." She says as she puts her right hand on her hip.

Tiger gets on his fighting stance, and both Steve and Katarina are surprised to see he's a capoeira fighter. Steve then proceeds to get on his own stance, shaking his fists in front of him.

Katarina is the first to attack. She slaps Tiger twice in the face with the back of her left hand before doing a crazy spin in the air and giving him a high kick of her left leg. It brings him down hard.

He rolls backwards but quickly comes back closer to his opponents and performs a move called Gancho Chibata on Katarina, which is a left leg kick followed by a hard roundhouse kick of the right leg. It sends her spinning in the air.

Steve gets advantage of the window and punches him with the left, the right and then the left. Tiger attempts to make a simple roundhouse kick, but Steve crouches and does a Skyscraper, which is pretty much a raising punch.

Katarina is already on her feet as Tiger starts flying, and she performs two kicks on him before he hits the ground. He quickly rolls backwards, and all of them starting circling each other.

Tiger makes a Slippery Kick on both of them, taking the duo off their feet, and proceeds to make a Front Stinger, which are two kicks while spinning crouched. Katarina rises first only to be hit by Tiger's Handslaps Mirage, hitting her face with his left palm only to disorientate her before a raising roundhouse kick.

As Katarina falls, Steve gets up and attempts to make a combo of punches, but Tiger sidesteps and makes the Shin Cutter Combo, hitting Steve's face with both palms and finishing with a hard spinning kick.

Steve is already on the ground when Katarina comes to attack Tiger. She performs a series of five kicks on him, to which he responds with an elbow uppercut that takes off her balance long enough for him to make another attack. He makes the Relógio, which consists of crouching and making a spinning kick, bringing her to the ground.

Steve is already on his feet, although Tiger was oblivious to it. The boxer makes his Gatling Gun, punching Tiger's stomach for about nine times, sending Tiger flying backwards with the tenth hit.

Both Katarina and Steve wait for Tiger to get up. When he does so, both try to attack him, but meet his right leg in a continuous spinning while he leans in the other leg – a move called Barbed Wire. It sends the duo flying.

Steve is the first to get up, only to meet both of Tiger's hands in a Double Arm Stinger that brings him to the ground again. That's when Katarina gets up, only to meet the fast and complex Meia-Lua de Compasso. The move consists firstly of a cartwheel, hitting the opponent with the two feet, followed by two roundhouse kicks of both legs executed while relying in the opposite leg to crouch.

When Katarina flies away, Steve gets up, only to meet Tiger's fury. That lasts for a bit until a bunch of security men of Red Lobster come to separate the fight. Four men hold Tiger, preventing him of attacking any longer, while another six divide themselves between Katarina and Steve, to stop them from getting up.

That's when the three fighters realize that quite a crowd is surrounding them. Most of the restaurant clients, plus some people who were probably just passing by, are circling them, besides a bunch of employees.

"Eat that, suckers!" Tiger screams to Katarina and Steve.

"You'll pay for this!" Katarina shouts back.

Katarina and Steve are released in the left entrance while Tiger is released in the opposite one. The duo is pushed hard towards the street, and the security men lock the garage entrance behind them. Putting their hands on their knees, they catch a breath before Katarina speaks up. "He's _definitely_ gonna pay for this."

Steve laughs. "I think he's been pretty beaten up already." He proceeds to stand in a normal position.

She laughs a bit too. "I guess so." Katarina admits. "But he's still gonna pay." She then stands normally as well.

"Why so revengeful?" Steve jokes.

"Why not?" She says in a similar tone.

"There are better things to be."

"Like what?" She asks teasingly.

Steve smirks. "Maybe I should answer that question of yours in a more… _appropriate_ place."

 **…**

Katarina has been driving for a couple hours now, and has arrived in West Palm Beach, a few kilometers away from Miami. She parks her dark green-colored American Muscle car in a large, dark and empty back alley. Her simple high-heeled steps feel like stomps in the stoned floor, thanks to the place's muteness in the middle of the night.

She stops a few steps away from her car and takes a pair of white gloves out of her back pockets and puts them on. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, she unbuttons her white coat, exposing her characteristic black leather bra and her tattooed belly. From an inner pocket of her vest, she takes out a pair of sunglasses and also puts them on. She smirks to herself. _So much better_.

Walking closer to the car again, she opens its back door and pulls an unconscious Steve, making him fall hard on the ground. Closing the door, she drags him through the pavement and enters a very dusty building through a very old and ugly looking door. One would think the place is abandoned, and it really is, but Katarina knows someone's waiting for her inside.

She finds herself in the middle of what used to be a dining café of black and white checkered floor. She leaves Steve on the ground and leans her back on a wall, not caring at all about the dirtiness of the place. She starts murmuring a song that has been stuck on her head for a while, as if the situation is trivial and part of a daily routine.

A couple minutes pass and she hears steps. She looks up and sees a man white like a ghost, wearing pale brown military clothes. He has pitch-black hair tied up in a short and single ponytail. His face shows slight delight, which is not usual, but it still is who she has come to meet.

"Good singing." He says, in a rare moment in which he actually speaks.

"Dragunov." She says simply.

He doesn't say a word, as expected, and crouches to analyze the unconscious body of Steve. After a minute, he gets up and his gaze meets her face again. He nods once, then turns his back to her and walks away. Katarina keeps herself on the same spot and goes back her low singing.

All she had done with Steve was a mere act. Besides her name and nationality, everything she told him was fake. She's been in Miami exactly looking for him. Of course she had her fun too, but her primary goal since the very beginning was to bring him to Sergei Dragunov, who's representing the Russian nation.

When Katarina told Steve that her job as a waitress was a long story, she was actually lying – it is very simple. She's a mercenary who does short term missions for sleazy governments and organizations. That night, she was only doing what had to be done for her to get closer to her target: Steve Fox himself.

Katarina's abilities are very diverse, and as a mercenary, she not only can act as an assassin, but also as a kidnapper, soldier, spy, burglar, and others. She is a skilled fighter, and has special expertise with knives – one should be careful with her.

Dragunov comes back, his piercing white eyes contrasting with the darkness of the surroundings. She throws a black bag to her direction, and she crouches and opens it. It is full of wads of cash.

"Mother Russia is always so generous." She smirks as she closes the bag again. "Might I ask you what you're going to do with him?" She asks out of plain curiosity.

"Classified." Dragunov answers.

"You're quite talkative today." Katarina smirks. "Well, I guess we're done here, then." Her back leaves the wall, and she gets the bag from the floor, taking a few steps forward. "Nice doing business with you." She whispers in Dragunov's ear and then leaves. Putting it in the trunk of her car, she gets in the driver's seat and speeds up.

Dragunov merely raises his right eyebrow slightly for a second, before his unreadable expression comes back to its usual place. He puts Steve on his right shoulder and exits the building through a rear door, different from the one Katarina used.

Since the Zaibatsu started 'curing' the war it caused, Russia withdrew with its forces on Mexico. There was no point in being there anymore.

But the Russian nation is no fool, and their newly conquered proximity to the Mishima Empire made things a lot easier for spying. And thanks to that, they found out Steve Fox has some connection to the Devil Gene, although its nature is unknown to them.

It's been a while that they've been trying to reach someone with the gene and capture that person, aiming to study it and create a biochemical weapon. That actually has been Dragunov's primary mission since The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 – and now, he has finally succeeded, or at least that's what he thinks so.

Putting Steve's body under black sheets on the trunk of a black pickup truck, and then gets on the driver's seat, turns on the engine and takes off, aiming the city's port, where a secret Russian military ship will be waiting to take him and the body to Cuba, from where they'll get a plane back to Russia.

* * *

 _[Day 12]_

 _Thursday, 01:44 UTC (10:44 in local time)  
Osaka, Japan_

"[…] this is all I have to ask you, Mr. Nobuo. Thank you very much." Asuka overhears a male voice say. Asuka has just woken up and was walking through the corridor, aiming the kitchen, but stopped at the sound coming from the living room.

"It is a misfortune that we are only able to meet in situations like this." Asuka's father says.

"Indeed." The gentle male voice speaks again. "May we talk to Ms. Kazama?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sure she'll be willing to help." Nobuo answers. "Just a second."

Asuka then hears the noise of her father's steps in the wooden floor, and silently waits for him in the corridor. When he comes, he stops abruptly in front of her – he wasn't expecting to see her here waiting.

"Who are they?" Asuka asks.

"They're from Interpol. They are investigating the woman who attacked our dojo." He answers. "Do you remember Mr. Lei Wulong? He's there too, a very nice man, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

"Yes, I remember." She says after recalling the other time the Kazama Dojo was attacked. "Are you coming?" She says pointing to the living room.

"Oh, no darling, they want to hear your testimony."

"But I've already spoken to the police."

"I know, so did I, but they are conducting a separate investigation than that of federal police." He says. "Everything is going to be fine." Her father gives her a reassuring smile.

She didn't need to be reassured on anything, but she can't help but smile back to him. She nods once and enters the living room. As she takes a seat, in front of her there are two people – a man and a woman. The man is indeed Lei Wulong, wearing his black and long ponytail, and light pink shirt with white slacks and shoes.

Besides him, there is a woman Asuka doesn't know. She is clearly from the West, thanks to her facials features, which consist of thick lips, large nose and olive green eyes, and the outcome exhales self-assurance. She has dark caramel skin, and her hair is a very odd type of black power of dark brown color. She is wearing a black suit, with no shirt under it, although the coat covers all her torso. Her shoes seem to be leather boots, but are mostly covered by the pants of her formal garment.

"Ms. Kazama" Lei cracks a sympathetic smile and shakes her hand, talking is usual good mood voice.

"Please, call me by my first name only." Asuka says as she smiles back to him.

He releases her hand. "Sure. Please feel free to do the same and call me Lei only." He says. "This is Robyn. She is assisting me in this investigation."

"Nice to meet you." The woman says in the more casual way she can, but it is very clear that she's more of a serious person. Asuka shakes hands with her briefly and then turns to Lei.

They proceed to ask her a huge amount of questions, regarding not only the crime itself, but also how her day was like before she came home and faced the intruder. It was a normal day – she assisted her father in teaching the younger students of the dojo, and by early evening, they heard a weird noise coming from the yard. She then proceeded to describe her fight with the woman. Both Lei and Robyn make notes on their clipboards.

Also, they made questions about the formation/creation of the dojo. According to them, it was so they could investigate if there's any correlation between the Kazama Dojo and the other dojos the woman attacked, so they can found out if she was searching for something specific for theft, or else. Asuka told them how her father founded it after moving from Tokyo, aiming to teach the younger generations of the big Osaka city.

It takes almost an hour, but they finish it. "Thank you very much, Asuka." Lei says, his voice as sympathetic as always.

"Could you please call your father?" Robyn asks.

"Sure." Asuka answers and gets up. "Just a second."

Going down the corridor, looking in each door, she finds her father in the kitchen having a glass of water. She tells him that he's being needed in the living room, and he goes there as Asuka returns to her bedroom.

Before getting in, she overhears Robyn. "This is our number. Call us whenever it is necessary, and we'll be content to help."

"Thank you very much, Ms. Robyn." Asuka's father says, sounding glad. "Let me take you to the door."

Asuka closes her bedroom door completely and lays on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The questions took so long that she lost her appetite.

 _Now it's too late to grab a bite. I guess I'll have to wait for lunch._

* * *

 _[Day 12]_

 _Thursday, 05:28 UTC (14:28 in local time)  
Seoul, South Korea_

Hwoarang has just left his bedroom after getting changed into his white training dobuk, as he is going to get back to his routine of training. Baek, although still not fully recovered, is already better and doesn't need such meticulous care anymore.

Before he closes the bedroom door, however, he remembers of something – actually, _someone_. He gets his cellphone, and then exits the room once and for all. Once he's downstairs, he calls a number.

The number is Ling Xiaoyu's. After he tried to call her some days ago and she didn't answer, he presumed it would be better if he waited a few days to try again. As it's already Thursday, she might be willing to talk now.

Rivalries aside, and also disregarding World War III, Hwoarang has found a new reason to hate Jin. Even though The Blood Talon doesn't really believe in love, that doesn't stop the others from doing so, and Xiaoyu, out of all people, most definitely doesn't deserve that. Jin is a jerk for pushing her aside for so long, and marrying Nina is the last streak. Even the Blood Talon can admit that.

Almost a full minute later, the phone is answered. "Hello, Hwoarang!" Xiaoyu says on the other side of the line, with her usual happy tone.

Hwoarang raises an eyebrow, then answers. "Hey there, Xiaoyu. How are you doing?"

"I'm great, thanks! And you?"

"Good too."

"Sorry I didn't call you back, I completely forgot!" She says, and it's genuine. "I was too lost on training. My grandpa can be tough sometimes." She chuckles lightly.

"Nah, it's fine. I should know how it is to have a tough master." Both laugh shortly. Hwoarang then decides it's better to start with the most important topic. "I'm calling to check up on you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," He begins, a bit of uncertainty on his tone "I think you know why." He says. "I'm just concerned, that's all. Are you sure you are okay?"

He can hear her sigh on the other side of the line. It's hard to determine whether it comes from sadness or anger. "Yeah, I guess so. Even I am surprised with how I've been dealing with it so far." Now, it's easy to say her sigh had been of sadness. "Staying for some time at home here in China has helped too." She adds. "I can't deny I've been affected, though. But it didn't really stop my world from spinning."

"Sincerely, even _I_ can't believe he did that to you." Hwoarang says in voice of sympathy, as if he's on her side. "Even _I_ can see how much of a jerk he is, beyond any feud I have with him."

"It's not like he had any obligation of doing so." Xiaoyu says, her disappointment even more evident. "We don't have a relationship."

"But still!" He says quite angrily. "That's not an excuse. That wasn't excuse for you, when you kept on trying to reach him all these years."

 _He has a point_ , Xiaoyu acknowledges mentally. That's a perspective she hadn't seen from – or perhaps had avoided unconsciously. She has already been told a few times in her life that she tends to take the blame for everything, even when she's the victim. "I see where you're driving at." She says. "But it's not like I can do something about it." She adds, now in a sad tone again.

"Yeah." Hwoarang says expressing frustration. "At least go easier on yourself." There's a brief pause. "All I know is that I'm going to kick his ass even harder next time I see him."

Xiaoyu can't hold back a chuckle. "Thanks, Hwoarang, really. It means a lot."

The right corner of his lips smile a bit. "If you need anything, call me. I'm on your side."

"Thank you very much." She says. "But let's drop this subject already." She says, already sounding happier. "What have you been up to?"

"Ah, not much." He says dismissively. "I spent some time in Spain, then came back to Korea."

"Spain? That's nice!" She says. "I spent some time in Europe too, but it was in Italy. I was with Miharu. Do you remember her?"

" _Hmmm_." It escapes his throat as he looks up in thought. "I don't think so."

"You defeated her in the Fourth Tournament."

Then it clicks. "Oh, yes! The one with dark auburn hair." He says. "How is it there in Italy?"

"Oh, it's beautiful, really!" She says. "They have a lot of historical places, in all of their cities, but at the same time they're so modern, and everything is so clean. I had a great time there."

"That's cool."

"But tell me of Spain! I heard it's great there too."

"Yeah, it is." He says. "I stayed in Barcelona. Very nice place. I didn't go to many touristic spots, though, but I can guarantee you the bars there are great."

They laugh. "Sorry, but I have to hang up now. Grandpa is scolding me again about training." She says.

They chuckle a bit. "Alright, then. Go to your training. I'm going to do the same, though." He answers.

"Thanks for calling, Hwoarang, really. That's very nice of you." She says. "Besides, it's always good to talk to friends."

"It's nothing, really. That's what friends are for anyway." He says in a sympathetic tone. "Goodbye."

"Bye!" She squeals before hanging up.

Hwoarang puts his cellphone in a nearby table. Xiaoyu is the least expected person to be friends with someone like Hwoarang, but he actually thinks she's nice. Her happiness is contagious to everyone.

Her obsession for Jin is something he'll never understand, but he respects it. _Unlike that goddamn Kazama_ , Hwoarang acknowledges her efforts, because besides the crush she has on the guy, she has actually tried to _help_ him.

Few are those in life who _truly_ care about you.

Shaking his head to regain focus, Hwoarang heads for the dojo. Suddenly, however, the doorbell rings, so he turns and takes a different direction.

He opens the door to find a man and a woman. He recognizes the man, even though they have never formally met, but the woman is someone unknown to Hwoarang. The man has black long hair tied up in a ponytail, Asian black eyes, wearing pink and white policeman clothes. About the woman, everything about her is translated to the word 'strong' – her exotic features, fierce expression and imposing clothes. She's western, of green eyes, has both dark skin and hair, and is wearing black formal clothes.

"Mr. Hwoarang." The man says sympathetically.

They shake hands. "There's no need to call me Mr., really."

They release hands. "Alright then, no Mr."

"You're Mr. Wulong, right?" Hwoarang asks.

"I thought we had agreed not to say 'Mr.'". He chuckles lightly. "Yes, I am Lei Wulong. You can call me Lei only." He says. "We're here in the name of Interpol. We'd like to ask you and Mr. Baek a few questions about the recent incident on your dojo."

Hwoarang raises an unsatisfied eyebrow. "I have already talked to the police."

"I understand your position." Lei says. "But it was the local police. We're here representing Interpol's separate investigation." He explains. "Oh, how rude of me. This is Robyn. She's my partner."

Hwoarang turns to the woman. "Nice to meet you." She says, and they shake hands. Her grip is strong.

"Please, get in." Hwoarang says as he releases his hand from Robyn's. He leads them to a living room, and the duo take a seat. "I believe you'd like to talk to my Master first."

"Yes, we'd like, please." Lei says. "How has been his recovering?" There is genuine concern behind the politeness of the question.

"He's doing fine." Hwoarang says. "Unfortunately, it'll be a while 'til he's able to fight again."

"I see." Lei acknowledges.

"I'm gonna call him. Just a moment." Hwoarang says, and leaves for the second floor.

After a couple minutes, Hwoarang comes back to the first floor accompanying his Master, helping him to go down the stairs.

"Mr. Baek." Lei says as he and his partner stand to greet the man. "I'm Lei Wulong and this is Robyn." He says, turning his head towards the woman by his side, signaling to the one he's referring to. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but we're representing Interpol and we'd like to make you a few questions."

"It's not an inconvenience." He answers. "And you can call me Doo San only." He cracks a faint smile.

Lei smiles and nods as an answer. "I see. Please call me Lei only."

With that, everybody takes a seat, with Hwoarang helping his Master once again. Once everybody is settled, The Blood Talon exits the room and heads to the training dojo.

He stops on his tracks as he realizes something. His Master still hadn't told him who the attacker was. Hwoarang didn't press on the matter because he felt it would be disrespectful, but he still wanted to know. He still wanted revenge. He failed to do so in Japan, but only because he literally knew nothing about the person.

Keeping a safe distance from the door, yet still close enough to hear the conversation inside, he leans his back on the wall and listens carefully.

"Well, Mr. Doo San, could you please tell us the events of the day of the attack?" A female voice asks – Robyn.

"Yes." Hwoarang overhears his Master's answer. "It was a common Tuesday. I woke up early, had a small breakfast, and swept the house. Then I taught my Taekwondo classes as I normally do, and then the day was over." He says. "Around 10 p.m., I received a call from Hwoarang, telling me he was going to return to Seoul from Barcelona." Doo San continues. "He was spending sometime in Spain." He adds.

"The call was short, and after it, I went to bed. After some minutes, perhaps an hour, I was about to drift off to sleep when I heard a noise downstairs." He says. "Once I got to the dojo, someone opened the door of my office and turned on the room's lights. From behind, I wasn't able to recognize the person at first, but when I called the intruder and the person turned, I knew instantly who it was."

"Who?" Lei asks.

"Kunimitsu is her name. I remember her from the Second Tekken Tournament." Doo San answers. Hwoarang raises an eyebrow at the mention of such a weird name. But now, he knows who the person is.

"Are you sure?" Robyn asks.

"Such an exotic fox max is hard to forget." He says. "Just as the orange hair in ponytails." Hwoarang almost smirks – this was too easy. Now he knows exactly how the person looks like.

"I see." Lei says. "I remember her too. But could you please tell me how you met her?"

"I didn't. She was just another competitor." Doo San answers. "I recall watching her fight against the sword man, Yoshimitsu, from my hotel room's TV." He says. "That was a good fight. Both were very skilled, and I remember being impressed by their abilities." Doo San further adds.

"They were indeed very good." Lei says. "Yoshimitsu still is, I might add. He still competes."

"Yes, indeed." Doo San acknowledges too.

"Anyway, what happened afterwards?" Lei asks.

"Upon recognizing her, I said her name, and at the mention, she simply got into her fighting stance. With that, I followed suit, and we started to fight. It didn't last long, though. In an unexpected move, she literally blew fire on my face." He says, with a bit of irritation in his voice. "Don't even ask me how she did that, because I have no idea." He adds. "All I know is that it was too fast for me to avoid, so I started rolling on the ground to make it cease."

"Oddly enough, she waited for me to stand, only to cut me in the arm and in the face with a knife. I collapsed to the floor, and struggled to get up. When I was finally standing again, she was smirking at me. Angered, I started to walk toward her, only to few weaker each step. In the fourth step or so, I collapsed again." He says.

"She raised me from my hair and showed me the knife on her hand, to mean there was some sort of substance on it to make me drift into unconsciousness." He continues. "Last thing I saw was the rope on her hands, and then I fainted."

Angry enough with the story, Hwoarang walks away silently, with a scowl on his face, determined to release the feeling in the punching bags of the dojo. He knows, however, that the hate he's feeling for the attacker won't be ceased until he defeats the person.

 _Kunimitsu, uh?_ He thinks. _I will find you. And I will bring you to justice._

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 00:33 UTC (09:33 in local time)  
Chiba, Japan_

Since Miharu regressed to Japan, she has been spending some time with her parents in Chiba, her hometown. Since the city is close to Tokyo, it's not inconvenient at all. Deep inside, even though she's been missing her parents since the day she entered the plane to Italy, she actually wanted to be alongside Xiaoyu, her best friend.

 _At least she is with Panda and with her grandfather_ , Miharu thinks. She knows that although Xiaoyu accepted the situation regarding Jin, she is still going to need people to support her tomorrow morning. Miharu is a friend of Jin's too – although not as close as Xiaoyu –, and she also doesn't understand the marriage. But like Xiaoyu said, as hopeless as it may sound, there's nothing that can be done about it. _I should give her a call later_ , Miharu decides.

Right now, Miharu and her parents have just arrived in a Water Park so they can enjoy the sunny day. She walks carelessly, excitedly eyeing the place, choosing which pool she is going to swim first. Lots of multicolored toboggans of different sizes and formats, pools with waterfalls surrounded by plants, beach-like sections with wave pools, areas for water gun wars, and many more surround the little

Her reddish brown short hair is adorned with a lilac cap and white heart-shaped sunglasses, accompanied of bracelets on both of her wrists, with sky blue nails. Her clothes consist of a multicolor bikini top, blue denim shorts and pink low heels.

Her parents find a table to sit, which means green light for Miharu to explore the park. She keeps on wandering, mesmerized by her surroundings, until her eyes stop at the park's craziest set of toboggans.

She smirks to herself and makes a little dance. _Here I come!_

 **…**

After tiring herself out on all the toboggans and swimming pools she was able to go, Miharu decided to rest on a sun lounger. _Perhaps I can get a tan_ , she thinks.

She is not alone, however. During the day, she made a friend. Laying on the lounger by Miharu's right, is a girl who introduced herself as Chloe. Miharu can't help but feel there's something off about the girl, but she can't pinpoint what. They have talked for many good minutes now, perhaps an hour, but now they've gone silence for a moment, simply analyzing her surroundings or staring at the cloudless turquoise sky.

The girl has Asian-shaped eyes, but the irises are light green, thanks to a pair of lens, and she has a light blonde hair tied up in two ponytails that almost touch the ground. It's hard to determine whether the hair is dyed or a wig, but it is most likely not natural because the girl's eyebrows are darker – of light brown color.

As for clothes, Chloe is wearing a light pink and black bikini, with the bottom adorned also with a black ballerina skirt, and she has a white and light pink cat ears headband.

"Lucky." Miharu calls. Chloe said it is her nickname, and that she prefers being called by it. Miharu doesn't really understand, but respects it.

"Yes?" Lucky answers happily.

"From where did you get your nickname?" Miharu asks curiously.

"Oh, people would always say that I was lucky. With time, they started calling me Lucky." She explains. "I ended up embracing it."

"That's nice!" Miharu says.

"Do you have any nicknames?"

"Not really. Miharu is already a short name." She says matter-of-factly. Miharu doesn't see, but Lucky bites her lip in nervous fashion. "Where do you come from?" She changes the subject.

"Oh, I-I'm Japanese!" Lucky answers, laughing nervously.

This time, Miharu notices it, but chooses to ignore it and keep up with the conversation. "Of course, silly!" She jokes. "But from where? Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba… there are many cities, you know?!"

Lucky laughs, somewhat relieved, Miharu notes. "I come from Kitakyushu." She says.

Kitakyushu is a city in the northern part of the region of Kyushu. Kyushu is one of Japan's four main islands, and it is the most southwesterly of them. It is situated in the same prefecture of Fukuoka.

"That's nice! I have never been there." Miharu says.

"It's a big, big city." Lucky says. She then changes the focus of the conversation. "And you? Where do you come from?"

"Oh, I was born and raised here in Chiba." Miharu says fondly. "But I've been living in Tokyo in the last few years."

"Oh, cool!" Lucky says. "This is my first time in here." She says truthfully, her happiness slightly toned down.

"Really?" Miharu asks surprised. Chiba is close to the capital, so it's usually common for people to know the city. "I think I have never met someone who doesn't know Chiba!"

Lucky playfully raises her shoulders as an answer. Miharu continues the talking. "I could show you around! How long are you staying here?"

"Oh, no, no!" Lucky says, shaking her head to the sides, and moving her hands. "I think I expressed myself wrong! I'm not visiting, I have just moved to the city."

"Yay!" Miharu says excitedly. "Then we'll see each other very often!"

They high five each other in a celebrative manner.

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 10:42 UTC (07:42 in local time)  
São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brasil_

"Now, sign this." A lawyer says to Lee, who takes the paper and starts reading it.

There's a group of three lawyers surrounding Lee, who's sitting in the office desk of G Corporation CEO's room. While Kazuya was in the Amazon, Anna took charge, since she's the sub-CEO. Now that she's absent as well, Lee is in provisory charge, since he's a shareholder. Now, the lawyers are assisting him to take permanent control of the corporation. The three men are wearing different tones of grey suits, while Lee is wearing a pitch-black one.

Lee starts reading, like, the zillionth piece of paper he's been given. As always, just more usual business blabbering written in a font of small size.

Suddenly the sound of papers turning, the clicks of pen and the sound of leather wallets opening and closing is replaced by a loud and vigorous thud. The noise was shortly followed by flying objects of all sorts, besides parts of the actual wall. A hole has been formed on it, and a dark creature fluctuates on the other side, thanks to its large bat-like wings.

Lee promptly gets up and closes his fists. "Kazuya."

The devilish creature eyes him from head to toe, before releasing a "Hmph." and a smirk. Devil Kazuya flies inside rapidly, grabbing Lee by the neck. And if breaking one of the room's walls wasn't enough – he also breaks the window wall that was behind the desk. Lee hangs in the air startled, and then he suddenly meets a grey stone ground hardly, rolling many times until coming to a stop with his back facing upwards.

Devil Kazuya lands emitting power and haughtiness, giving strong steps towards Lee, who's struggling to get up. Lee manages to support himself on his elbows, and analyzes his surroundings only to see nothing but another grey floors of similar fashion backgrounded by a plain turquoise color – they're in a rooftop.

The evil being kicks Lee as to turn him and make his back to the ground, then putting his right foot over the Silver-Haired Prince's chest. "Have you missed me, _brother_?" The voice is completely inhuman. The intonation on 'brother' is so full of disdain that Lee actually gets, somehow, hurt by it.

Lee, of course, doesn't answer, since it had obviously been a rhetorical question. Devil Kazuya proceeds his talking. "How naïve of you to think that I would simply distance myself from G Corporation so easily."

"I have never been naïve. Only fast." Lee says breathing hardly.

"It seems you've not been fast enough." He smirks.

In an unexpected move, Lee pulls Devil Kazuya's right leg, bringing him to the ground, and Lee takes some good steps backwards after getting up. As Devil Kazuya brings himself to a standing position, Lee ignores his fuming expression to analyze the surroundings one more time – this time paying attention on the details, trying not only to get used to the limits of the rooftop (since a fight is most likely going to take place), but also to find an exit.

When Devil Kazuya gets into his fighting stance, Lee turns back his attention to the devilish creature, also getting in his battling pose. Both eye and circle each other slowly, a rhythm broken by Devil Kazuya who has clearly grown tired of it. He brings his left fist with abnormal strength to Lee's stomach, then rising him with an uppercut of the opposite hand and finishing the move by shooting a ray of laser on him before he's able to fall.

Lee forces himself to roll backwards and give the opponent no chance to take advantage of him the ground. However, the laser has quite affected him – it is a sensation that mixes inner electrocution with outside burn. He decides to start circling the opponent again as to gain time to recover from the shock, but this time keeps himself even more attentive as to avoid being hit like that again.

However, thanks to said shock, Devil Kazuya is able to charge at him again, performing a simple combo of three kicks – two simple hits with each hand, followed by a spinning third.

Now, it is Lee's turn to grow tired of this. Before Devil Kazuya can attack him again but with something stronger, Lee makes a simple left right combo with his fists followed by a roundhouse kick named Revolution Zwei, sending the opponent spinning.

It doesn't send Devil Kazuya too far away, as it doesn't affect him much as well. He quickly gets up as if nothing has happened, and makes a two-punch two-kick combo sending Lee a bit backwards.

Lee gets up in a crouching position instead of a standing one, and does his Shin Slicer, taking Devil Kazuya off balance. The evil creature stands only to make a two-hit combo with his right hand, firstly using his fingers bones to punch Lee's left half of the face, then bringing the back of his fist to hit the other of Lee's cheeks.

Lee returns the attack with a Silver Slash, releasing a scream as he performs it by jumping towards the other with his left foot in the air. Devil Kazuya quickly rolls forward and makes the Demon Scissors, consisting pretty much of throwing yourself towards the opponent while flipping. He hits Lee with his feet and both fall to the ground. Since Devil Kazuya is the attacker, he gets up first, although Lee follows suit not too long after.

They circle each other for about five seconds when Lee takes offensive and does his Acid Storm – five high kicks with his left leg followed by a roundhouse kick of the opposite limb, sending the other spinning in the air. He instantly does his move Lee Sliding, which has literal meaning. Lee finds himself in the opposite side of where he was, close to a wall, and both fighters get up at the same time. Lee, however, takes the lead of the battle again and makes a Blazing Kick, hitting Devil Kazuya hard and sending him very high in the air.

Lee takes the opportunity and quickly turns to the wall behind him. He opens the door, and finds himself inside of a room of emergency stairs – something common in buildings, and it is usually only through those that one can reach the rooftop ('usually' because, well, as seen in here, Devil Kazuya can fly his way to the top). Instead of walking downstairs, Lee simply jumps each series of stairs, trying to reach ground level as fast as possible.

When he hears a noise coming from one of the floors, Lee has an idea. He decides to take a different turn in an attempt to distract Devil Kazuya. He opens the metal emergency door and finds a corridor, where three men in business suits are talking in a good mood.

Luckily, the elevator gets there at the same time Lee does, and the men get in. It doesn't take long to reach ground floor, and Lee walks rapidly through the entrance lobby. In a certain corner, he spots a hatstand. He quickly takes off his black short coat and grabs a brown long one. After the exchange, he takes a beige hat and puts it on his head as to cover not only his odd silver hair, but also his eyes. He closes the buttons and lifts the collar of the brown coat.

With his hand in the pockets and head hanging relatively low, he exits the building. His pace is the perfect equilibrium of speed and discretion. He camouflages himself in between the vast amount of people walking through the electric city of São Paulo. The noise of the vehicles stuck in the traffic jam and the stomps of the people serve to muffle the sound of Lee's loud breathing.

After about 5 minutes of walking, Lee goes downstairs in an underground metro station. The first thing he does is pick up a public telephone. Since he has no money with him, he makes a collect call. He dials Eddy's number, the closest ally, and after a few rings, the recorded voice saying ' _collect call – to accept…_ ' starts, which means someone picked it up.

"Hello?" A soft female voice answers. Although Lee has never met Christie in person, he presumes it is her, because it'd be the only logical conclusion.

"I'm in a public telephone, I can't talk much. Please just put _him_ the phone." He says.

Silence follows for a moment before a male voice talks on the other side of the line. "I'm talking." This is a voice Lee recognizes – it is Eddy's.

" _You-know-who_ has returned. The plans failed. Contact the rest of our allies. Be fast."

"Thanks for calling." Eddy hangs up, and so does Lee.

Since taking a plane is not going to be the safest choice, Lee's only remaining option is to take a bus. Taking off to Rio, not only to have Eddy's support but also to support him and his fellow allies, is what needs to be done right now. Besides, Violet Systems headquarters are situated there.

He gets a metro to the neighborhood in which the closest bus station is located. _Excellent…_ he thinks frustrated.

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 11:17 UTC (08:17 in local time)  
Island of Trindade and Martim Vaz, State of Espírito Santo, Brasil_

The woman and Julia are currently on some sort of small office in the facility. They're both sitting beside a desk while Julia is typing on the computer. Julia is trying to find any information about the mysterious pendant and its recently appeared writings. Yesterday, they failed, and, so far, today also has been a failure.

The woman is silent all the time, and rarely makes interjections. Julia doesn't have much to say as well, but when someone says something, it is always her. Both were given a simple and plain white strap dress and flat shoes of the same color, the only clothes available for them in here. Although Julia hates the dress on her, it looks majestic on the woman – white really suits her. The only thing on their looks that differ are Julia's braid – which she managed to maintain tied somehow, even without a hair tie – and the ancient necklace on the woman's neck, because they still don't know if it is safe to take it off.

"Here, check this." Julia says, moving the monitor a bit so the woman beside her can see. "I think it's Nahuatl." After leaning to see the monitor, the woman turns to Julia as who hasn't understood.

"It's the ancient Aztec language." Julia says. "Let's try to translate that." She gently grabs the pendant on the woman's necklace, aiming to bring it closer so she can read. Julia types the sentence written on the edges of the circle collar, and finds the translation 'Holy key to the green God'.

Julia doesn't understand, but the woman seems to shiver. "This makes no sense." Julia says, although more to herself. Abruptly, the woman gets up, but Julia quickly grabs the woman's wrist.

The two are now standing and glaring defiantly at each other. "Does it make any sense to you?" Julia says in an accusing tone.

The woman's expression is unreadable – she is simply stern, making a face as to show she's going to stand for her ground if she needs to.

Sighing in frustration, Julia lets go of the woman's arm and then sits on her chair again. She closes the browser windows of the computer as the woman leaves the room. Before Julia is able to ask her where she's going, she sees through the small glass of the door that the woman headed to a nearby bathroom.

Turning to face the ceiling, the phrase 'Holy key to the green God' keeps echoing on her head as flashes of all situations involving the pendant cross her mind.

 _Suddenly, she steps on something, and looks down to see some sort of rustic pendant._

 _Frowning slightly, she crouches to analyze it. When she grabs it, a rush of memories goes through her mind. But not any memories. Memories of her mother.  
_ _-  
_ _Julia is inside her apartment, precisely in her bedroom, packing her things. She is folding her few clothes in a sloppy manner and putting them inside her black suitcase on the top of her bed as her gaze is locked in the recently found ancient pendant. It is placed on the nightstand, where the yellow illumination of the vintage lampshade makes the red gemstones and the golden of the necklace glitter in a dreamy way. Looking how the light shines in the pendant makes Julia enter in some sort of trance, leading her into a reverie that puts her heart at ease.  
_ _-  
_ _"It had been passed through many generations of our tribe. It was said that it could lead to a great treasure, although nobody knew what it was. Some even speculated that it had immeasurable power." She says. "To me it seemed to be an ordinary pendant, really."_

 _"How did it look like?"_

 _"It was very beautiful, I can't lie, but that was it." Barbara says. "It was a golden circle with some red gems in it, a bigger one in the center."_ _Just like the one I've found_ _, Julia thinks._ _So maybe my assumption was right_ _._

 _"The Mishima Zaibatsu looked after it in some point, right?" Julia asks._

 _"Yes, they did." Barbara answers in a sad tone._

 _[…]_

 _"Do you know what happened to the pendant after that?" Julia asks._

 _"After Michelle came back, she tossed the pendant into the water of a lake." Julia frowns at hearing this._ _That's why I found it in the river_ _, she thinks._ _It must've come from the flow_ _.  
_ _-  
_ _She knew it was risky to bring the pendant with her, but it was riskier to leave it alone on G Corporation's headquarters.  
_ _-  
_ _Julia is fallen a bit far away from both now. She is facing the waterfall, and notices that her backpack has fallen, and is now completely opened over a rock by her right, a couple of steps away. What has made her notice it was her pendant, actually. It's like it is… pulsing. That's the only way it could be described. And that's what made Julia turn her head. She crawls to its direction and grabs it. Putting it on her neck, but hiding it under her shirt, she stands and discreetly walks towards the fight, semi-crouched._

 _[…]_

 _When Unknown's head touches Julia's knees, the pendant starts pulsing even stronger. Sensing it, she takes it out of her neck, since it was practically hurting her, the object beating almost like a heart on her right hand. As she brings it closer to Unknown, it manages to pulse even harder, repeatedly and unstoppably. Julia frowns and does the unthinkable – she puts the necklace on the woman._

 _When she does so, some sort of shock pulse is emitted by the collar, sending Julia backwards and, at the same time, raising Unknown to her knees. The woman releases a cry as white luminous balls leaves her through her mouth and revolve around her, each of them portraying different and not understandable images. Julia and Bruce watch in astonishment. The woman then releases a stuttered half-gasp half-cry noise, then a haunting growl of agony as her eyes lose their glow, quickly followed by a close of eyelids, and she falls hard on the river, facing the waterfall as her right ear touches the ground, her black tattoo disappearing._

 _Gradually, the water washes the bronze mud of her body and the white color of her hair away. When she is completely nude, a very torn and dirty short once beige dress appears on the woman's body, accompanied by some grimy white bandages on her legs.  
_ _-_ _  
_ _Analyzing the woman's white hospital clothes, her eyes lock with the pendant, which wasn't removed for safety reasons. Julia frowns again, this time because of confusion, as she percepts something different in the necklace. There is some sort of writing in it, and the jewels have turned from red to blue._ _  
-_ _-_ _  
_ _Julia types the sentence written on the edges of the circle collar,_ _and finds the translation 'Holy key to the green God'._

 _Julia doesn't understand, but the woman seems to shiver._

It clicks her. She widens her eyes and gasps. The realization feels so heavy that her head starts aching badly. _It must be_ _it_ _– what else could it be?_

Her just started train of thought is cut by a loud telephone rinds that scares her to death. She releases an involuntary scream and then her shaking hand reaches the phone. "Hello?" She says exhaling, still recovering from the shock.

"He has returned. You need to run and hide. Now." A male voice speaks.

"What?" She asks in astonishment.

"Go to the airport and call me when you're there."

After the first moment of surprise, she recognizes the voice and understands the speech. No further explanation is needed. She knows what that means. Kazuya has returned and is most definitely going to spoil the plans. "What about the treasure?"

"Take it with you. It could be our card against him." He says.

"Okay. Thank you." She hangs up.

Putting the telephone back on its place, she pushes the CPU on the ground with all her strength. When it hits the ground, she opens the side metal cover of it and tramps on the circuits. It's the best way to guarantee nobody will find out about what she had been searching for.

The loud noise is followed by the sound of the door opening, as the woman comes back with a confused expression. Before she's able to ask anything, Julia speaks first. "We need to leave. We're no longer safe."

The woman nods promptly as her face instantly turns to an expression of understanding, and she follows Julia as the latter goes through the corridor. On the way, Julia gets her backpack in a room where, luckily, Bruce is taking a nap. They run until they're outside, in the beach, and only stop when they arrive at the small airport, which is a part of G Corporation's installations on the island.

Julia quickly asks for an employee of the airport to take them back to the coast – she claims those were Lee's direct and secret orders to them. Since Julia herself is a very top-notch employee of the corporation, the man believes her and promptly leads them into a small plane, and they take off shortly afterwards.

What follows are long mute minutes of internal tension on Julia's mind. Her life is at stake. She sighs nervously. She knew of the possible consequences, but of course she'd rather be safe. Anyway, at least she knows she's been trying to do the right thing.

Before she's able to think about the pendant, however, silence is broken by her companion. "You remind me so much of your mother." The woman says suddenly, and takes Julia completely aback.

"What?" Julia asks as she turns to face the other, frowning in completely surprise. The woman, who's sitting by the window on the other side, simply smiles. Julia proceeds to make another question. "Who are you?"

"It is better left unknown." She says, not answering Julia's question, with a small hint of pleading on her tone, as if she was asking for the other to believe her. "Please, trust me."

Julia's frown is still there, but this time because of confusion. After pondering, she makes the oddest choice possible and decides to let it go – perhaps for now only. She softens her expression and nods to the woman, and then both turn to their respective windows.

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 12:01 UTC (09:01 in local time)  
São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brasil_

Devil Kazuya turned into his human form again before going running on the stairs, trying to find Lee. He went all the way until the ground floor. There, he found himself in some sort of lobby, and after inspecting the place with a clinical eye for about one minute, he spotted Lee's jacket on a hatstand. Kazuya cursed on his mind as the headed to the exit. _Lee can't run forever, anyway. I shall make him pay later._

Getting a cab, he ordered the driver to take him to G Corporation. He could have gone flying, but considering the enormous amount of people in the streets (the usual norm in São Paulo), he decided against it. He didn't want to get unnecessary attention. He had only used his Devil form previously in the sky only, and not on the ground, which contributed to keep him unnoticed.

 **…**

After half an hour, Kazuya is now back to the CEO's office of G Corporation. The place is in ruins, and it's probably not even safe to be here. Nonetheless, he finds out that, somehow, the phone wasn't broken in the process, so he dials the secretary to order a reconstruction of the place.

Instead of asking a servant, he takes all the remaining papers himself and puts them on a trash can. He sends a brief third-eye laser from his forehead and all the paper starts burning. He watches it intently and when the flame gets too independent, he gets a fire extinguisher from the corridor and sprays it over the fire.

He keeps gazing at the ashes and the smoke. _They all thought I was out of the game… but I'm holding all the cards now.  
(TK4's opening reference!)_

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 13:40 UTC (10:40 in local time)  
Vitória, State of Espírito Santo, Brasil_

It takes three hours for Julia and the woman to arrive at Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo. When they get out of the plane, Julia turns to the man. "This flight has _never_ happened." Julia says in a sinister tone. "Don't return to the Island. Just go away."

The man nods in agreement quite scared, his eyes widened. Julia makes a sign with the head for the woman, who follows her as they run towards the main building of the airport, leaving the pilot behind. Vitória's airport is quite small, actually, since it isn't an international one.

Both women are not audacious when it comes to their personalities. However, when a situation needs drastic measures, they're the kind of people who are the first ones to take action and do whatever it takes to make things right. They may not be fond of daring, but that doesn't mean they're not brave.

"Help me find a public telephone." Julia says in low volume to the woman.

After a brief silent moment, the woman speaks up. "There." She instantly takes the lead and Julia follows by her side.

Julia dials Eddy's number – he was the person who called her earlier. After a few seconds, a male voice speaks on the other side of the line. "Hello?"

"Hello?" Eddy's voice answers the other side.

"We're in the airport."

"Good." He speaks. "There's a plane of mine on the runway. It's a cargo one, but I actually sent it for you. It is grey and has a name you can't miss written on it." He explains, with 'a name you can't miss' meaning that it is the name of Eddy's company, Julia deducts. It's not safe to say such things in a public phone, so they can't mention any decisive names during the call, including their own. It's something all of the allies have been doing so far.

"I believe you'll need to get there hidden." He continues. "But the crew of the plane will let you in."

"Thank you."

Both sides of the line hang up, and Julia turns to the woman. "Follow me. Be discreet, yet fast."

As always, the woman only nods in agreement, and does as she's been told. They start walking through the front part of the airport until they reach a part of the parking lot that has a vehicle entrance to the runway. Watching from afar, they see that there are two cops responsible for authorization – one is inside a cabin, and the other is outside checking the driver's documents. Whenever the one who's outside makes a hand sign, the one inside the cabin presses a button to open the passage.

"Any ideas?" Julia asks. The woman answers with a negative shake of the head.

They silently watch the line of cars that want to get in. After a minute, Julia sighs. "This is getting us nowhere." She starts walking away from there, and the woman follows.

When they reach the other part of the parking lot, not too far away from where they were, the woman speaks up. "Here." Julia stops and looks to her, then to where she is showing with the hand. There is a building of the airport of relatively low height, and two cars parked in front of it.

Julia doesn't understand it and turns back to the woman. "What?"

"I think it is possible to climb." The woman's eyes don't leave the building.

Julia turns back to it, and analyzes it, taking the woman's point in consideration. It is indeed possible to climb it, although quite hard. "Let's do it, then."

Both climb up the back of one of the cars. "You go first." Julia says.

The woman doesn't even nod this time – she simply takes the lead, putting her right foot on the support Julia has made with the hands. With the help of Julia's impulse, she's able to reach the small roof that covers the building's entrance only. She then pulls Julia, and both proceed to help each other again to reach the actual rooftop.

They walk carefully through it, while crouched, and Julia eyes the other side to try to find the cargo plane which Eddy described. She spots it, parked a few meters to the right, but also spots a guard along the way.

"Why the police is always there when you want to commit a crime, but never around when someone else commits a crime against you?" Julia says annoyed.

"We'll have to deal with the guards." The woman says suddenly.

"What? Attacking them? It'll only be worse." Julia says.

"No, of course not. Distracting them."

"How?"

The woman turns her gaze to nowhere in particular as she thinks of a way out of the problem. "If we could contact the people who are waiting for us, maybe they could help." She says after some seconds, already facing Julia again.

Julia frowns slightly. Perhaps, it could work. "But how can we do that?"

The woman shrugs slightly as an answer. They turn to their gaze to the grey plane. Julia then takes a look on the surroundings, and has an idea. "Let's keep jump through those rooftops. Maybe if we're closer, they could see us."

The woman nods, and they help each other again through the ceilings of the buildings on their right until they stop in the rooftop of a building in the exact front of the plane. There are two men waiting on the outside of the rear door of the plane. Julia shakes her arms in the air for about a minute, but they don't see it.

"Damn it." Julia says frustrated.

"Isn't there some sort of noise we can do that only they will understand?" The woman asks.

"Without the guards hearing it as well? I don't think so."

The woman looks around, trying to think of a solution. And she finds one. "Help!" She screams.

"What?!" Julia says in a whisper.

"Help!" The woman continues screaming. "Over here, in the boarding gate! My arm is trapped!"

The guards hear it and start running towards the direction of the boarding gate, which is a bit far by the left. The woman turns to Julia and smiles.

Julia smiles back. "Let's go."

They jump and hold on a light grey post, sliding to the ground, then run towards the cargo plane. They reach the men by running, before they're able to go check on the fake gate incident too. "Eddy sent the plane for us." Julia says as they stop in front of them.

No further explanation is needed – after all, only the ones who need to be rescued would know of such thing. "Come in." One of them say, and the ladies follow him inside.

The other man goes up the stairs besides the aircraft door, and gets into the flight deck – he's the pilot. There, he presses a button to close the cargo door. Julia and the woman are already inside, and they're lead to a big wooden box attached to the wall, where they'll need to get in to hide. As they do so, the box is closed. There are some few small holes for air and illumination, but that's all.

"Where are we going?" The woman asks.

"You're asking only now?" Julia chuckles. "If I were taking you to some trap, you wouldn't even know."

The woman answers to the joke with a happy smile. _Julia indeed resembles Michelle a lot_. Julia then answers the woman's question. "We're going to Rio de Janeiro. The flight should take an hour."

"Thank you." The woman says, clearly expressing gratitude on her voice.

Julia smiles to her. "There's no need to thank me."

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 14:03 UTC (23:03 in local time)  
Tokyo, Japan_

Getting inside the Mishima Estate had been a children's play to Anna. All she had to do was dye her hair black like she used to do on her early 20s, put a purple lipstick on, and remove the high-heels. Even she had to admit it – she looked like another person. With the help of Rita, a nobody working as Jin's secretary, Anna was able to get inside easily. All the assassin had to do was paying some good amount of money.

Another major point that contributed to her infiltration was the mess the place is. Even though it's late, servants are walking from one side to another, carrying flowers, vases and all other imaginable kinds of decoration, while the workers who hold a bit higher position are crazily crossing the place in between people, checking everything, like the general factotum would do. Adding that to her discretion and her skills, it was simple to get in.

Saying that her name was Sara Croft, a mix of The Terminator's Sarah Connor and Tomb Raider's Lara Croft, she claimed to be an employee hired specifically for the wedding – and it worked. She's wearing black simple clothes that cover all her body. _Why do they have to be so emo all the time?_ – that is something that she doesn't know.

So far, Anna has only 'procrastinated' her 'work' – whenever somebody would ask her to get something, she'd simply tell someone else to do it. She keeps walking around as to pretend she's busy, when in fact she's studying the installations around her.

Everything about this is just being the funniest thing Anna has ever experienced – she is in a constant mood of holding her laugh. To think that all this hype is about her sister's wedding and that Nina could only get married because of an arrangement, besides all the ' _expensive_ ' and ' _soooo last season_ ' decoration – it is all so amusing.

Unfortunately for her, Kazuya indeed spoiled her plans. Somehow, he came to know about Jin's marriage – not that it was a huge secret, though (pretty much the opposite). The thing is that now she can't stay for the ceremony. Besides that, he actually left her plans quite intact, and everything is going to be just as she planned. But she is a rule breaker, and she is obviously going to stay. She smirks to herself behind her black hair.

 _Tomorrow's gonna blast_.

 **…**

Jin presses a button on his high-tech telephone to unlock the door for Dr. Anthony, who has just knocked. The doctor enters accompanied by Robyn, and Jin makes a brief sign with the head as to tell them to take a seat. As always, Anthony is wearing all white clothes and Robyn is wearing all black clothes, and Jin has a dark olive green suit on.

"Jin." Robyn starts the talking. "I've come to talk about the situation regarding G Corporation. But for the first topic, however, Dr. Anthony's presence is necessary." She makes a brief pause. "As I said I would, I specially assisted Anthony in the genealogical study of Ms. Asuka Kazama."

She puts a strand of hair behind her ear before continuing. "Since the attacks on the dojos have been international, I've assisted Mr. Lei Wulong in Interpol's investigations and had the chance to talk to not only to her, but also her father." She takes a clipboard that was under her arm and puts it on the desk.

Jin briefly eyes the text as Robyn continues talking. "I've asked them about their backgrounds. Asuka didn't seem to know much, and Mr. Nobuo Kazama gave rather a simple explanation." She puts some notes on the desk, and the paper says that Mr. Nobuo Kazama founded the Kazama Dojo in Osaka after moving out of Tokyo, coincidentally around the time the second tournament finished.

"Because G Corporation used to be primarily a genetic company before Kazuya's leadership, I also made a research on the encrypted archives Lee sent via Violet Systems." She continues. "Looking through the company's historical, I found an interesting bond between G Corporation and the WWWC back in the day. WWWC formerly had a Genetic Department, but when it was shut down by the government, its ex-employees found G Corporation, to keep on working with fauna and flora in order to develop vaccines and remedies for species." Robyn makes a brief pause. "That's the reason that lead them into the volcano – they were looking for biochemical agents to do so, in the surrounding forest." She puts another document on the desk.

Jin passes his eyes through it, but the document simply contains detailed and technical information about the studies on the area – not what is in question right now. Robyn keeps talking. "They were given free access to the forest two days after the conclusion of the tournament." Robyn puts another piece of paper on the desk, and Jin reads it briefly just as he did with the other files. "On their second day there, they found Kazuya."

"When they found a few human body parts that managed to last in the volcano, they thought it could lead them to some solution for health endurance not only on animals, but perhaps on humanity in general, which would be quite a good thing, to say the least. They recovered said parts and brought them into the G Corp's main lab at the time." Robyn puts the top-secret legal documents regarding the body parts' transference to G Corporation's then headquarters in Fukuoka, Japan.

Jin reads this document with a bit more of depth, but still listens carefully to Robyn. "There, they indeed found a gene never registered on humans before, but they weren't able to replicate it on another life form. Instead, they decided to clone the whole DNA into a twin body, a process that took them a whole year." More papers are put on Jin's desk. "I think it's worth mentioning that WWWC was already defunct when they managed to make the body."

"With now a living being that possessed the gene working, even though still on cryogenic sleep, they were able to understand its nature, which came to be the Devil Gene." Robyn puts a file bigger than the others in front of Jin.

"What are you driving at?" Jin asks, who has already given up eyeing the files.

"I'm getting there." She answers. "Although it is chemically a gene, it functions mostly as a disease. Realizing its destructive nature, the scientists aimed to create a form to neutralize it and put it dormant or simply erase it completely, or perhaps control it." She makes a pause and sighs slightly. "After many frustrated tries, they decided to take a more drastic turn."

Robyn puts the next file on Jin's desk slowly, as she speaks carefully. "Considering what the Devil Gene is, and who Kazuya is, the ex-WWWC co-workers knew of only one person who would be willing to help them."

Jin allows himself to frown and opens the folder, only to see a picture of his mother. He turns his face to Robyn again, clenching his eyebrows even further. She continues talking. "Your mother already had spiritual knowledge of the matter, but when she learned it was genetic, she accepted to donate her egg in order to find a 'cure'."

Jin's widens his eyes in disbelief and eyes the file rapidly, rather desperately. Robyn, however, hasn't finished the story. "Via in vitro fertilization, a baby girl was born 8 months later."

Jin faces Robyn again, in complete astonishment. Robyn finishes it all by stating what, by now, is obvious. "The name of the kid is never mentioned, but it is most likely Asuka Kazama. The ages match."

With all that said, complete muteness falls upon the room. Jin hurriedly eyes all the files has been given, in a pure state of shock, although he restrains it as much as he can. For some reason, he feels like it must be a lie and somewhere in these files is going to confirm its untruthfulness.

Seeing that reaction coming from Jin, Robyn speaks one more time. "When I found the files, I asked Dr. Anthony to analyze the veracity of the studies."

Jin stops handling the files and gazes at Anthony intently. Embarrassed, Anthony adjusts his glasses before confirming Robyn's words. "The information is legitimate."

Jin closes his eyes and breathes deeply for a couple times. He opens his eyelids and organizes the papers over his desk with a face of someone who's clearly in profound thought. "And what else?" He asks, already calmer, as he finishes.

"What do you mean?" Robyn asks back.

"If that's so, why was she raised separately?"

"It is not said on the files." Robyn answers, repeating one of her previous statements. "Probably to ensure the girl's safety. The biggest proof of that would exactly be the lack of specification about the subject." She speculates. "If you actually stop to read the files, they only say that although they managed to erase her Devil Gene, they're not able to duplicate the effect on some sort of vaccine neither actually control it, so they abandoned that research."

Jin frowns. "They… managed to _erase_ it?" He asks with a lower voice.

"Yes." She answers in a similar low volume.

' _They actually were able to free someone from the curse_ ' is the mutual thought on the room as the place goes dead silent. Nobody says a word as everything actually sinks in. After what feels like forever, Jin makes a question. "Who knows of this?"

"Only us." Robyn says. "The studies were both done and known only by the most superior division of G Corporation, which later sent Jack-5 robots to kill Kazuya after the fourth tournament. I think we all know too well what happened to them afterwards."

 _Of course. They were killed. And that's how he ascended to the leadership_. "And Kazuya? Does he know?"

"It was done while he was still in cryogenic sleep." She answers. "I doubt it."

"Her hair color doesn't match." Jin acknowledges.

"Nothing genetic couldn't explain." Anthony intervenes. "I wasn't able to study Asuka Kazama's blood because there are no existent samples of your mother's blood to make the comparison, and getting your or Kazuya's blood would be too dangerous."

Jin nods in agreement, then sighs. "I don't even think I need to say this is goes under the _cinis_ protocol, right?" The two others simply nod once in silent agreement. "And what about the Agency?" Jin asks. "The files are already on their database. They know it."

"No, they don't." Robyn says. "It is all encrypted – that's the way Lee found those files. The Agency is still the process of extricating them." She explains. "This was one of the most encrypted ones. When I found them myself, I erased them from there. These papers are the only copies." She explains. "This information is way too dangerous to be out there – even in the control of the Agency." She says. "Mainly for the girl, actually."

Jin nods in agreement. Anyone who has any confirmed relation with the Mishima is in potential danger. Jin might have done many evil things, but all of them had a reason behind – he is not one of senseless acts.

"Thank you." He says, his voice expressing deep gratitude, although his face is stern as always. _Well, there's no time to waste_. He sighs briefly before speaking again. "Well, what are the other topics we have to discuss?"

"Well, Dr. Anthony, this is all. Thank you for coming." Robyn says, turning her chair to him and nodding.

Jin also nods to the doctor, and the man gives one nod directed to both of them before leaving. When the door closes, Robyn speaks. "Well, as you know, Kazuya returned and is in charge of G Corporation again. Lee called Eddy, who then contacted me. Eddy said Lee sounded like he was in a hurry or great danger, and that the call came from a public telephone and lasted for not even one full minute." She states. "He hasn't called again ever since."

"What about Julia? Is she safe?"

"Eddy contacted Julia before contacting me. At our call, he told she'd be running away, together with the subject they found in the forest."

"Any information about it?"

"No. There was no time for her to contact us to speak about the matter." She says. "The only known thing is that the treasure was retrieved, and nothing else." After a second, Robyn speaks again. "Neither Julia nor Eddy have called since then."

After a brief second of soundless thinking, Jin talks again. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Lee was only able to take full control of G Corporation thanks to Anna's plans of influencing in the wedding. That means she's close, and we have to be very careful tomorrow." She says. "And let's not forget about Heihachi – he is most likely up to something. There are also the enemy nations to deal with."

"Yes, of course." He says. Since they're speaking of enemies, something Jin had made a mind note about is remembered. "Robyn, you said you dealt with the encrypted files. Do you know how those things work?"

"Yes. I'm not a Lee, but I'm good, I guess." The right corner of her lip smiles slightly, a rare show of emotion coming from her.

"There is something that I want to ask you, then. _Cinis_ , of course." Robyn keeps herself silent and lets him continue. "Recently, I accessed a rather encrypted part of Mishima Zaibatsu's database, and found files of older Tekken tournaments. However, some of them are missing."

Robyn's eyebrows tremble quickly, frowning and then going back to place. "Missing?"

"Yes. Of the Second Tournament, to be more precise." He answers. "It's not hard to tell, since it is one of the matches." He says dismissively. "But I'm almost sure there are other things too."

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I'm pretty sure you would have deleted, perhaps even has already deleted, 'unwanted' files, if you know what I mean." She says. "That's not my business, though." She adds, clarifying she means no offense.

"I wasn't surprised when I saw that too." Jin agrees with her. "However, those are files I really need to access. If they still exist, that is."

Robyn nods once. "I see. I'll do what I can."

Jin nods back. "Well, thank you. Let me know of any new information."

Robyn nods once more, gets up and leaves. Jin stands as well, grabbing all of the documents that have just been given to him and carries it all to his bedroom. He puts those on a black travel bag, which is in the floor of his closet, which contains his most personal belongings. He hides the white papers under some dark sweatshirts and closes the zipper.

 _I should take this out of here_. With that in mind, he gets inside his closet, gets changed to motorcycle faux leather clothes and exits the room with the bag on his right hand.

As he arrives on the first floor, he starts overhearing a conversation, and he stops. It seems that Rita, his secretary, is on the phone.

"Yes, Ms. Williams, I understand." Rita says. "I have to hang up. Don't cause me trouble." With that, a sound indicating that she put the phone back on the desk is heard.

Raising an eyebrow, Jin turns to the direction he had come from, and goes further into the first floor's corridors. In a rather hidden spot, he takes a cellphone out of one of his pockets and calls Nina.

"Nina." He says. "Were you the one talking to Rita right now?"

"No." She answers. "I haven't talked to her not even once today."

Realization falls upon Jin. "Then she was talking to another Ms. Williams right now."

There is a brief pause – Nina is cursing Anna on her mind. "What do you want me to do?"

"Check all the _cinis_ protocols I've established since she started working here, and make sure they are indeed _cinis_." He says. "Take her to somewhere… _seclude_."

"Alright." She says. "Anything else?"

"I'm going out right now, and it is also _cinis_. I need you to erase every register of it, and make it seem as I have never left the building firstly."

"Sure."

"This is all." He says before she's able to ask if there's something else he wants, and then he hangs up.

Jin goes back through the corridors, and crosses the main lobby where Rita's desk is, and he eyes the woman as he leaves. She has platinum blonde hair, and it is clear that it is dyed, because the roots are black. Her eyebrows are also black, and are very marked. She is caucasian, but tanned, and her nose is relatively large, just as her lips, although they're not as thick as Robyn's, for an example.

If stares could kill, Rita would have been dead already. Fear is clear in her expression. When the telephone rings, she seems to be, somehow, relieved to have a distraction from her boss' eyes. _She shouldn't be_.

Jin then leaves, heading to his personal garage.

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 14:34 UTC (23:34 in local time)  
Kyoto, Japan_

After walking for about half an hour through dark back alleys of Kyoto, a masked man reaches the outside of a building that has an emergency door with a staircase that goes downwards. When he finally reaches the end of it, he's facing a basement door. Before he's able to knock on the door, however, someone opens it on the other side.

The person has greyish white hair, spiked in an unorganized fashion, circle glasses, big nose, teal blue button shirt covered by a white long-sleeved lab coat, with brownish grey pants and black shoes – the typical 'crazy scientist' look.

"Doctor B." The masked man says, bowing.

"Hello, Yoshimitsu, my friend." Doctor Bosconovitch greets him happily, shaking his hand.

When the Doctor opens the door more to reveal a light haired man, the later speaks up before Bosconovitch is able to make an introduction. "I'm sorry, but I really must be going." He bows in the direction of the doctor, then in the direction of the ninja, and disappears through the dark staircase, going upwards, everything in a quick fashion.

Not much more than a glimpse of such man, however, was needed for Yoshimitsu. He knows everybody who's at least a bit important – and the hurried man is one of those people. Lars Alexandersson had tried to make a coup d'état on the Mishima Zaibatsu – it seems he has taken an opposite turn. Yoshimitsu makes a mind note about it.

"Please, get in." Doctor B says sympathetically as he always does and gives them space to cross the door.

"Thank you." He says, and takes a few steps in.

"What gives me the pleasure of your visit?" Doctor B asks, making a sign with the hand to show them the chairs.

He doesn't take a seat. "I won't take long." He says. "Sorry for coming this late, but it's something important."

"What is it?"

"I would like to ask you a favor." Yoshimitsu answers.

"Favor? No, no way. As far as I'm able to help, I'll do it with no need of reward."

"Thank you, my friend." Yoshimitsu says.

"Well, tell me about it."

Yoshimitsu is not someone to beat around the bush, so he gets strictly to the point. "Do you still have the truth serum?"

Bosconovitch slightly raises the right eyebrow before speaking. "I do. Why do you need it, if I might ask?"

"I'm sure you remember Kunimitsu." Yoshimitsu says

"Oh, Kunimitsu!" Doctor B exclaims as he recalls the person. "It's been such a long time."

"Indeed, Doctor." Yoshimitsu acknowledges. "I need to talk to her."

"I see." Doctor B says in acknowledgement. No further explanation is needed. "Well, of course I can do it."

"Good. Thank you again, Doctor." Yoshimitsu bows. "If it's not an inconvenience, it would be better if the procedure is done at the Manji's headquarters. It isn't safe to take her out of there."

Doctor B knows too well what that means. She's a prisoner. "Oh no, it definitely isn't. I'll do everything I can to be helpful."

Yoshimitsu bows again. "I couldn't thank you enough." Bosconovitch smiles and bows back. "Well, Doctor, I do not wish to be a disturbance, so I'm leaving already." He says. "Is tomorrow night a good time for you?"

"Yes, it is." Doctor B answers, and politely opens the door for his guest to leave. "See you tomorrow, my friend."

Yoshimitsu nods and leaves, silently.

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 15:45 UTC (12:45 in local time)  
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil_

A mansion of white color and modern architecture is situated in the top of a small cliff, surrounded by depressions full of forests. From up there, it is possible to see the neighboring houses, although they're relatively far away. It is also possible to see, besides the green landscapes, the tropical environment of the beach, in the front of the mansion, just after the stone road.

A woman of raven-black short hair and porcelain face of delicate features is standing in the balcony of the mansion's second floor. She's embraced by her white robe and the sunlight only, as she gazes intently to the deep turquoise sky, closing her eyes deeply every now and then, inhaling and exhaling as she lets all the thoughts go away.

In between those, she senses something by her side. It is an entity she remembers feeling before. The pure aura indicates it is a good spirit. She slightly turns her head to the left. The entity is expressing itself in the form of a woman – an angel, to be more precise.

The spirit-woman has a very distinctive white skin, with darkish golden hair tied up in a bun, wearing white clothes that resemble ancient Greek fashion. The dress top and the knee-length pants are matched up with arm ornaments and a pair of sandals covering her calves, both of a color similar to her hair. Her head is adorned with a laurel wreath.

"Long time, no see." The woman says, smiling and bowing to the entity.

"It's been a long time indeed, Jun." The spirit answers, smiling and bowing back. "I suppose you know why I am here."

It isn't hard for Jun to presume the reason. "If I am present, so are you." Jun says.

The Angel smiles. "You've been always so wise."

"But there's something I still don't understand." Jun says. "Kazuya doesn't acknowledge me. I am still not a part of his life, as far as I am concerned. How are you supposed to be here, then?"

"I have never been a part of his 'good' side. I'm just its representation. Just as you are its key." The Angel says peacefully.

Jun keeps herself silent, and turns to the spot she had been staring before. With her eyes locked in the blue of the clear sky above, she then continues, after the silent moment. "Why do you wish to see me?"

"For the same reason I made myself present previously."

Jun's silence, this time, represents her acknowledgement. "How have you lasted all these years?" She asks, half-changing the subject.

"Through the descendants of my race." She says.

Instead of expressing her confusion with the raise of an eyebrow or a frown, Jun turns to the Angel, inclined to hear further explanation.

The Angel continues. "On this spiritual realm, I am an entity. On a higher one, I am a living being, though not exactly comparable to humans." She explains. "However, we have descendants in this realm too, though of small number."

"In here, we give them strength, whenever they or we might need to." She continues. "The lineage puts me too distant from them, but I was still able to find shelter on their essences."

"I see." With that said, Jun turns to gaze at the sky again.

"I knew you were alive, but I had to wait for you." Angel says. "I can no longer be on my own. Time has weakened me far too much." Jun nods once in understanding.

After a silent minute, Angel speaks again. "I'd like you to meet my closest descendant."

"Who?"

"In a proper time, you'll know." She answers. "He is the part of a small Clan that brings together the few descendants of my race." She explains. "As I said, our relation is distant, but it's still existent."

"What would be the reasons for such a meeting?" Jun asks. "I don't see why someone else should be involved. Too many people have already been affected by the evil."

"Don't you wish to cure the Devil Gene?" Angel answers with a question of her own.

"I do. I still want to fulfill the mission I gave to myself all those years ago – I _will_ save Kazuya's soul. And now, also my son's." She says sadly. "But that is _my_ duty. I can't let people be affected."

"They have already been, Jun." Angel says, also with a sad tone. "All these wars have tired humanity."

"I know." Jun says in a whisper, looking down.

Angel can't help but be affected by Jun's sadness. Even though technically superior, spiritually speaking, Angel is still affected by the energies around her. She knows too well it has never been Jun's fault – but she also knows too well that Jun is also aware of that. A part of human experience is to suffer because of things out of one's control. Jun simply can't help it, and Angel respects the human nature. With all that taken into consideration, Angel doesn't try to comfort Jun or anything of the kind.

"Listen." Angel says to call Jun's attention. "As he gave me shelter, he has far stronger psychic and spiritual skills than the others of his Clan." She says. "His help cannot be pushed away." After a brief pause, she adds something else. "It's been ages since the last time one of them hosted one of us." She explains. "Besides, their Clan is now focused on curing the Devil Gene, just as you. They have noble intentions, and will be of good assistance, I assure you."

"I understand." Jun says, looking up again.

"I must go now, Jun." Angel says, which makes Jun turn her head to face the spirit-woman once more. "I am pleased to see you after so long. We shall meet again, Chosen One." Angel continues, and smiles warmly.

Jun smiles back, and nods respectfully. As she turns to face the sky again, the aura besides her vanishes. Angel's presence is gone.

 **…**

Inside the mansion, on the first floor, there is a man of chocolate skin and dark brown afro braids tied up in a ponytail that goes until a bit before the half of his back, wearing a tortilla brown button shirt that leaves his forearms bare, and white formal pants with dark brown shoes. He is sitting in one of the grey velvet couches of the main living room of the first floor, situated exactly in the center of the place. His surroundings consist of a blue carpeted floor, and many glass tables and fancy decorations. His head is hanging low, and his expression is a mix of worry and vagueness, as his mind wanders away in deep thought, while he waits.

One of his waits is over as a woman gets inside, coming from the front door. She is wearing a jacket with a random pattern showcasing green, yellow and dark blue – the colors of the Brazilian flag – with light blue denim shorts, and white sandals that cover her feet and go until the knee. Her cinnamon skin matches her auburn brown hair tied up in a simplistic ponytail, bringing her smooth yet provocative face features to evidence.

She is carrying some shopping bags of all colors, and she takes a seat in a couch in front of the man. "Ed." She calls his nickname. "I bought the clothes."

"Obrigado, Chris." He looks up and smiles faintly, but then goes back to his expression of before, with his head a bit down. He had asked Christie to buy some clothes for two guests. They have just arrived from a fast-paced trip, with no belongings, and have already been shown suites of their own, where they were served food and are most likely taking a shower by now. Eddy's other wait is for those people.

Seeing Eddy in such a state, Christie drops the bags on the floor and sits beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"

He looks to her. Her face is full of concern. She's the type of person that has immense empathy, for anyone, everyone. After all the stupid things he has done, she still cares about him – it makes him feel guilty. But he pushes it aside to answer her. "They might be in danger. They can't stay here." He then gazes to the floor again.

Christie looks away, and seems to ponder. However, she suddenly frowns and turns to Eddy again. "Why can't they? And why are they here, firstly?"

Eddy turns to her one more time, and sighs deeply without saying a word. After a couple seconds, he speaks. "I just promised to help. That's all." He answers evasively, and turns to an unspecific spot again.

She straightens up her posture and let go of his shoulder. Both know very well it is much more complicated than that. Christie decides that, for now, it is useless to insist on the matter, so she stands. "I should take these upstairs." She mumbles, as she grabs the bags again. Eddy barely nods as she heads to the staircase.

Stepping on the blue carpeted floor, she comes to her first stop. She finds the door of the suite opened, and there is a lady standing in the balcony on the far other side, gazing towards the sky.

Christie knocks faintly on the open door beside her, and the woman turns at the sound. The tips of her raven-black hair float graciously with the move, and her smooth Asian eyes lock with Christie's. "I got you some clothes. I hope they fit." Christie says, and smiles sympathetically.

The woman walks towards her, and a smile comes to her face too. At the sight, 'serenity' is the word that flashes at Christie's mind. "Thank you." The woman says.

Christie gives her some of the bags. "Might I ask you what's your name?"

The woman looks up in thought. "I… would like to keep my anonymity, if it's not a problem."

"Sure." Christie says smiling, shrugging quickly in a dismissive manner, as to indicate she respects the woman's decision, whatever reason she has to want such a thing. "I'll leave you alone. Com licença."

They nod to each other briefly, and Christie goes to the suite where the other guest is staying. When she gets there, the door is closed. She knocks on it, and a short woman of brown hair answers it, opening it only a little as not to show her body, which is wrapped in a white towel.

"Here Julia, take these." Christie says and gives her the remaining bags. "I hope they fit."

"Thanks, Christie." She smiles and quickly closes the door to get dressed.

Christie goes downstairs once more and takes a seat beside Eddy again, who is in the same position of before. After a couple minutes, the mysterious woman shows up and takes a seat in front of them. She is wearing a full-body garment of white color, with black crow designs at the center of her bustier and on the left leg of the pants, with a brown belt on her waist and black sandals on her feet, besides a black scarf covering her shoulders and a white headband. Only now Christie spots a pendant on the woman's neck – she is sure she hasn't bought it. It most likely already belonged to her.

"So, you're the 'treasure' Kazuya had been looking for?" Eddy asks.

The woman's expression goes sad. "Yes, I guess you could say so." She says in low volume.

"Do you know why?"

"No, I don't." She lies.

"Why were you in the woods?"

"It's a very long story, and quite personal. If it's not a problem, I don't feel like talking about it."

Eddy reluctantly nods in understanding, because although he is suspicious, her sadness is genuine. Besides, it's nothing he couldn't ask to Julia later. Speaking of Julia, she then shows up, wearing a blue denim jumpsuit with brown sandals, with her hair tied up in her classical single braid. She takes a seat beside the mysterious woman.

"Well, you know it isn't safe for you to stay in Brasil." Eddy says.

"Yes, I do." Julia acknowledges.

"Christie." Eddy calls her name, and they're now looking to each other. "If it's not a problem, could you please leave us alone?" His tone showcases a bit of reluctance.

Christie stares at him for a couple silent seconds, and then leaves without giving him the right of an answer.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Japan is not an option." Julia speaks her thoughts aloud, distracted, without really acknowledging what just happened.

At the sound, Eddy shifts his focus back to the topic at hand. "Hong Kong, perhaps?" He asks, referring to Lei Wulong.

"Hm, I'm not sure if having the Interpol around would be a good thing." Julia says.

The mysterious woman slightly raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. It is not acknowledged by the other two as they continue their reasoning. "Miami is simply not in question." Eddy says, and Julia nods in acknowledgement. Steve is the ally living in Miami, but he is sharing a place with other Tekken fighters.

"What about Germany?" Julia asks.

Eddy makes a face that shows it indeed might be good option. "I guess so." He answers. "But I'm not sure if sending you both to the same place would be wise."

With that, both Eddy and Julia turn to the woman. On cue, she speaks. "Germany would do just fine."

"Alright." Eddy says. "But what about you, Julia?" Eddy asks.

"Even though Miami isn't an option, it might be a good stopping place before settling somewhere else." She says.

"Certo, then it's settled." Eddy says, "I'll give Leo and Steve a call." He stands and goes to his office.

The mysterious woman stands and goes to a nearby window, watching the sky in silence. After a couple minutes of silently staring to nowhere in particular, distracted by her own thoughts, Julia gets up the couch and goes after the woman.

Sensing the presence behind her, the woman speaks. "Brasil is such a beautiful place. I should have come here earlier, and in better circumstances."

Julia smiles a bit. "I guess the same goes for me." They silently eye the sky and the garden outside for a silent moment, until Julia speaks up again. "Listen, I need to talk to you. About the pendant."

The other turns to her, and waits for her to continue. "You know what the pendant is for, don't you?" Julia asks. The woman doesn't answer. Julia sighs in disappointment. "You said you knew my mother. I suppose you had some sort of bond. Can't you confide in me?"

The woman smiles warmly. "Can we go outside?" She says.

Julia frowns, but nods, and they leave for the backyard. Short grass of a bright green color is present in between reddish brown stone pavements that form a track on the ground, in which people are supposed to step on. The women walk through those, and stop beside a dark blue swimming pool as they gaze to a small forest far away, out of the gates that limit the high land in which the mansion is situated in, and a depression on the terrain.

Suddenly, silence is broken. "Since the pendant belonged to your mother, you have the right to know." The woman says, and gets Julia by surprise. "But, as I said in the plane, it is better left unknown." That rather confuses Julia, and she remains silent, as the woman continues. "All I can tell you now is that it's better if I keep it."

"Does that mean it isn't safe to take it out?"

"I don't know." She lies.

But Julia doesn't know it's a lie. She then tries again to convince the woman to tell her more about it. "I already have an idea of what the pendant is for. I just wish you'd clarify it for me." Julia risks saying that, even though she's not sure about her thoughts.

"That means you already know more than enough." The woman says.

Even though so serene, the woman is starting to get on Julia's nerves. "It is about the Ogre, isn't it?!" She says, in a bit lower volume, although quite angrily.

The woman shivers, then breathes deeply. "I'm not trying to hide it from you. I'm trying to protect you from it." It's hard to determine whether 'it' means the information, the pendant itself or the Ogre.

"I don't want protection, mainly not from you." She says, trying to express some venom on her tone.

The woman seems to smile faintly. "But you still need it nonetheless." She says.

Julia frowns. She has had enough. Before she's able to say anything else, however, the woman speaks up again. "It's exactly because I have faith in you that I count on your understanding. Of course I'm going to tell you about the pendant, because as I said, it is your right as you are, technically, its current owner. However, doing that now is far too dangerous."

Julia's expression goes softer. The woman continues. "I'm cooperating with you and your allies because even though I wish nobody else would get involved, I acknowledge you all are far too involved by now." She makes a brief pause. "Do not see me as an enemy. I am on your side."

"You're not an enemy." Julia says. "The problem is that none of us know 'til what extent you're an ally." There's a pause. "As far as I'm concerned, you're just somebody we rescued from a forest."

"And I shall return the favor." The woman says, then turns to face Julia for the first time since they sat on the bench. "I am grateful for what you did. You rescued me from something far greater than only a forest." The woman smiles, and then starts eyeing the green around them again.

Julia is, in a certain way, mesmerized by the amount of peace the woman's smile can exhale, while the woman seems to be put in a reverie whether she is looking to nature.

Still, in a sense, confused, Julia stands and goes inside again, only to be suddenly called by a male voice. "Julia."

Eddy approaches, with a cellphone in his ear. He then puts his hand over the phone so the person on the other side of the line won't be able to listen to him. "I already called Leo. I arranged a plane for the woman with a business partner of mine. It should leave in an hour."

"Should we call a cab for her?"

"Yes, I guess it's safer." He acknowledges. "I'll call it." There's a very brief pause. "Also, I wasn't able to contact Steve."

Julia slightly frowns as she ponders for a short second. "Fine. I guess I can find another way. The focus now is relocating the woman."

With that said, Julia goes upstairs and put the new clothes on her backpack. She was about to go downstairs, but she stops as she sees the woman entering her room. Julia takes a couple steps further, aiming the woman's suite.

"Eddy already settled things for you to go to Germany." She says, standing by the suite's door. "The plane will leave in an hour. You'll leave in a cab."

The woman nods, and gives one of her serene smiles. "Thank you. I should be ready in a couple minutes."

Julia simply nods, and goes downstairs. There, she takes a seat on the same spot she had before, as she finds Eddy and Christie doing the exact same thing.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Eddy asks.

"Yes, I am." Julia says. "It won't be hard for me to hide in the US, as far as I stay away from Arizona." She shrugs dismissively. "Besides, someone needs to check up on Steve in case something happened to him." Eddy nods.

It definitely doesn't take long for the woman to show up, and with that, everybody stands automatically.

Eddy and Christie lead them to the front door, and then they cross the small front yard until they reach the gates. "Boa viagem." Christie says.

"Thanks." Julia says, and politely hugs Christie, then shakes hands with Eddy.

"Thank you. For everything." The woman says, bowing politely, while smiling as she always does, emanating such peace, something that only she can do. Both nod back, and smile in the usual Brazilian sympathy, as they watch the other two get inside the yellow vehicle, and it then speeds off their sight.

* * *

 _[Day 13]_

 _Friday, 20:24 UTC (21:24 in local time)  
Monte Carlo, Monaco_

In the wealthiest neighborhood of Monte Carlo, one of Monaco's biggest mansions is located. It is widely known as the Rochefort Castle, named after the family name of the owners, who have built also an oil empire besides the house itself. Its magnificent architecture makes an imposing view.

One of the mansion's residents, heir of the Rochefort oil empire, Emilie, usually referred to as Lili only, is currently bathing on the place's dark blue indoor pool, located in the first underground level. It is rectangular, just as the beige room it is situated in. Large windows would be responsible for illuminating the room, if it wasn't for the fact that it is currently night time.

The yellowish white, light brown and pale beige colors of the floor and walls match the olive green and dark golden furniture and decorations of her surroundings, which consist of fancy divans, wooden corner tables with expensive table lamps, stone sculptures, vases with warm-colored flowers, and chandeliers.

Being rich has its advantages, and Lili knows very well how to enjoy them. However, as she feels she has enjoyed enough, she gets out of the pool and wraps her bikini body in a white robe, covering the black color of her swimwear.

For one of the rarest times in her life, she has dismissed Sebastian, her personal butler, for the night. For one of the rarest times in her life, she wants to be alone with her own thoughts. She can't help but think something much greater than simply a marriage is going to take place tomorrow at the Mishima Zaibatsu. And the worst part is that she is almost sure her father is going to be involved somehow.

Feeling a bit tired, she exits the room and starts crossing the many corridors of her home, aiming to get to her bedroom on the second floor. She just didn't expect to hear voices coming from not too far away. She stops dead on her tracks and hides behind a sculpture.

"What should we do to her, sir?" Lili doesn't know whose voice it is, besides the fact it belong to a male person. Judging from the accent, even though the person is speaking French, the man comes from another country, although it's hard to determine from which one.

"Nothing. Keep her captive. She still can be useful." Another male voice speaks, answering the question with a distinctive Monegasque accent. This time, however, the voice is very well-known to Lili – it belongs to her father, Albert.

"Sir, are you sure it isn't safer to relocate her to somewhere else?" A third male voice speaks, this one with an accent Lili is able to pinpoint, which is Quebecer.

"Just obey me." Lili's father says rudely.

With that, Lili is able to hear confident steps – her father's – each time louder, meaning he's getting closer to where she is. She straightens up her back against the wall, still behind the sculpture, to guarantee she's not going to be seen.

Once the sound of Albert's steps are gone as he goes upstairs, Lili is able to listen to another noise – heavy breathing and muffled gasps. Tiptoeing, she guides herself through a couple series of corridors, until she faces the source of the sound – two men, most likely the ones who were talking to her father, dragging the unconscious body of a woman. Lili widens her eyes and covers her mouth with the right hand in astonishment.

Keeping a safe distance, she keeps following them. After some short minutes, the men reach a dead-end corridor. Lili frowns, but it is quickly replaced by the raise of both eyebrows when she sees them pulling a lever hidden in a golden candle sconce.

The machinery makes the huge painting on the wall open as a door, and it reveals a relatively short-length corridor similar to all the other ones of the mansion, with a total of two doors in each sidewall.

 _It's now or never_ , Lili thinks as a determined expression falls upon her face. Clenching her eyebrows and closing her fists, she defiantly crosses the entrance before the men are able to lock it.

When they turned to close the door behind them, they found an angered Lili instead. "What does this mean?" She asks them furiously.

"Ms. Lili." One of them says nervously. He has shoulder-length straight brown hair, and wears a full-black security man suit.

The other, a bald man of similar clothes, starts speaking. "I'm sorry Ms. Lili, but you can't-"

"Don't you _dare_ to tell me what I can or cannot do!" She exclaims, even angrier. "Do not make me repeat myself! I demand to know what does this mean!"

The men don't answer, and they sweat nervously as they are unsure of how to proceed. Not satisfied with that, Lili speaks again, in a threatening lower voice. "Get out of my sight."

"Ms. Lil-" The brown-haired tries to reason.

But Lili cuts him off. "Get out!" She screams, loud as before, walking a step forward.

The bald man points a gun at her. "I'm sorry, Ms. Lili, but you leave me no options." He says. Now that he has spoken a longer sentence, Lili is able to pinpoint he's the one from Quebec. "You're not supposed to be involved in this."

The other gets his gun and points it at her too. "Please, just make things easier." He sounds less confident than his colleague. He's the foreigner.

For some seconds, they stare at each other silently. The atmosphere is tense. Behind the security men, the woman starts to wake up. Lili notices that and speaks up again, as to prevent the men from realizing it.

"I'm already involved." She says defiantly, and takes another step further. "What do you think you're going to do? Shoot me?" She asks mockingly, and takes one more step. "Try me."

With that said, she gets on her fighting stance, just as the woman behind the men managed to stand fully. That makes it possible for Lili to have a full glimpse of her, and she has to control her expressions as not to show on her face that there's someone behind the men.

The woman is young, and has a 'lost puppy' face… of red round eyes. She definitely has the palest white skin Lili has ever seen, and the tone looks quite unhealthy, actually – like a living-ghost (if that even makes logical sense), or a vampire. In contrast, there is the darkest tone of black hair Lili has ever laid her eyes on, although they go redder in the two long tips hanging freely above her shoulders, while most of it is actually shorter than shoulder-length. She also has a weird pair of horns on her head, and a prominent tattoo on her on her clavicles.

Her black and red clothes could only be described as a gothic lolita garment, as it was some sort of Victorian-inspired leotard, tight in the chest but falling fluffily in the bottom. It exposes her pale legs, which in turn are covered by black lace stockings till half her thigs. Roses and thorns embrace her ankles, matching with her stilettos. She also has black sleeves on her arms, although they're not actually connected to her body garment – although they're not gloves either. Her whole outfit seems to be the reminiscent of another one, which could, perhaps, have gotten destroyed or ripped.

Lili's jaw drops when the woman starts attacking the man on their back and also on their front, _literally_ using teleporting skills. Lili was also about to drop her arms from her fighting stance, but once she remembers the woman is not necessarily on her side, she straightens up again.

When the men are on the ground, still conscious but unable to get up, the woman stops and stares at Lili curiously, with her hands held up in an odd position. They stare at each for a couple seconds until the woman drops her arms and takes a step back, as to show she means no harm to Lili. The Monegasque follows suit.

"Who are you?" Lili asks, speaking in English since she doesn't know the woman's nationality.

"My name is Elizabeth Lahovary." The other answers, in a heavy-accented English, bowing in short fashion. From the surname, Lili guesses the woman is Romanian. "Although I'm usually referred to as Eliza only."

"Why are you here?"

"I was being held captive."

"I know that. But why?"

It takes a second before Eliza answers. "It is a story too long to be told in here." She says. Her tone doesn't show any reluctance about the topic, but rather preoccupation – she is in danger.

And Lili knows that. "But how can I help you if I don't know your background?" She asks in a tone of who's inclined to listen to whatever story Eliza has to tell. "I just met you. I don't if I can trust you."

Eliza looks to the ground, trying to resume the whole thing, and after a short moment, she faces Lili again and answers. "I have very special skills, and whoever was holding me captive, wanted to take advantage out of it, using my blood." She then makes a brief pause. "That's how far I know."

Lili knows Eliza is being truthful because she saw those abilities with her own two eyes – the teleporting. "I see." Lili acknowledges muttering, more to herself than to Eliza, as she thinks of how to proceed. Then it clicks her. "Follow me, will you?"

Eliza nods promptly. Lili turns and walks towards the door. Before passing through it, however, Lili turns her head only, to speak with Eliza one more time. "Be discreet. And be careful with those horns – don't break anything."

 **End of Chapter 8**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** _**BOOM!**_ **A 23k words bomb!** _WOW_. That's a record.  
The meaning behind the expression 'clockwork orange' fits this chapter like a glove. Life is complicated as a machine, yet filled with the vividness of emotions. (I don't think I need to say that I got the chapter's title from the movie, right? :P)

Featuring new characters: Angel, Eliza, and Lucky Chloe! _(you thought I had forgotten of them? mwahaha)(I told you ALL Tekken characters would be in this, didn't I? :P)_

I've given Eliza a full name (Elizabeth Lahovary). According to _Doctor Google_ , 'Lahovary' is a Romanian aristocrat surname – I hope it is correct. Well, at least it sounds nice, I guess. :P

Before anybody talks about how this chapter is 'too long', it's simply because it would make no sense to split it in two, so I'm leaving it this way.

giovanna21d (s2), alwaysdoubted, Guest, Taxman, Octopus309, Saffrage34, Billiejoelfan, Mr green and Asphalt 2014 – Thanks for your last chapter's reviews! :)

 _Thank you for passing by!_


	9. The Clash

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter 9: The Clash**

 _[Day 14]_

 _Saturday, 00:00 UTC (09:00 in local time)  
_ _Tokyo, Japan_

The ceiling is high and full of enormous golden chandeliers with candles and crystals, matched up with red, orange and yellow stained glass windows showing no particular drawings, but rather a beautiful abstract display of colors.

The floor is made of burlywood granite, consonant to the many pews made of mahogany wood arranged around the room, but still leaving space in the center to a long vivid red carpet, and lines of flower arrangements with white daisies and purple roses on marble vases.

People are talking loudly and happily, not bothering about any formalities. Their obligations as politicians, businessmen and soldiers are pushed aside as enthusiasm overcomes. Their functions and status are ignored by themselves as they excitedly wait for what is about to happen.

The guests are filling all the pews, and the only people standing are a few cameramen almost hidden in the corners of the room, and also a man wearing white shoes and suit, contrasting with his raven black hair. He's in the altar, and although he is the groom, the look on his face is completely stoic, contrasting drastically with the electricity coming from the guests.

The groom eyes every single spot possible of the improvised Catholic church, waiting just as everybody else, although not excited at all. To him, the marriage ceremony is just day-to-day business. He has done worse. Far worse. This is a child's play for this man.

And that man is none other than Jin Kazama, the current leader of the Mishima Estate. One of Mishima Estate's grand ballrooms has been decorated as a Catholic church, since the Zaibatsu's advisors concluded a Christian ceremony for Jin and Nina's wedding would be more appealing to the Western audience.

The whole thing had been arranged to distract the masses from their actual plans. The Zaibatsu, the Agency, Interpol, Violet Systems and Siqueira Enterprises had all come together to achieve their intentions, which are to bring peace back to the world, and also to kill Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima. And for those who know about the Devil Gene, destroying it is also a part of the plan.

However, things didn't go as planned. So far, no solution for the Devil Gene has been discovered. Heihachi's whereabouts are still unknown. G Corporation had actually been taken, only for Kazuya, who had disappeared before he could be killed, to return just as unexpectedly and take the company back from the hands of Lee Chaolan, who had assumed the leadership of it in the name of the allies.

They actually managed to get a 'bonus' – the Native Brazilian treasure – but not even that treasure has been useful, since they don't even know what it is, as Julia Chang, the one who took it from Kazuya before his apparent disappearance, has been out of reach ever since the 'theft'.

Jin's eyes stop in every single one of his allies who are present this morning. Lars Alexandersson is in the last row by Jin's left side, close to the entrance. The Swedish man's sandy brown hair is as spiked as usual, and he is in black formal attire. He seems frustrated, but is attentive nonetheless.

Alisa Bosconovitch is in the front row of Jin's right side, close to the altar. Her hair is now back to her classic duotone combination of darker and lighter pink, but instead of curly, it is completely straightened, with the tips touching her bare shoulders, exposed thanks to her strapless long black dress, which also exposes her legs in a gap on half her left thigh. Her bottom limbs are covered by black lace stockings that go until her knees, and match the black high heels on her feet. As accessories, black gloves cover her forearms and small white pearls are on her ears. She is quiet and watchful, and her face has a faint saddened expression.

Robyn, of the Agency, is sitting in the last row just as Lars, but in the other side. And instead of being beside the entrance, she's close to the corner, in Jin's right viewpoint. She has changed her hair completely – instead of the 80s-styled dark brown-colored black power hair, she now has pitch-black box braids tied up in a bun. Black is also present on the eyeshadow fully covering her eyelids, on the lipstick, her nails and her stilettos. Her eyebrows are brown as usual, and her olive green eyes are strong as always, exhaling merciless when combined with the dark makeup. She is wearing a sleeveless top and a long skirt that goes from her belly 'til the floor, and both pieces are made of neon orange lace, and together they work pretty much as a dress. She has no underwear on, and it is clear to see, but that doesn't mean her superior and inferior private parts are exposed, because the fabric of the garment covers those strategically. A small 'X' is marked on her right shoulder, and has a similar fashion of Raven's huge 'X' face mark.

Lei Wulong is sitting in one of the middle rows by the left of Jin's viewpoint, wearing a khaki suit over a white button shirt and dark brown shoes. His long black ponytail is there as usual, just as his good humor, and he interacts with the guests by his side naturally. Although the guests clearly can't percept, Jin can see that Lei is examining the room carefully, ready to take action in case anything happens.

In a seat similar to Lei's, but on the other side, Raven has his arms crossed over his black simplistic tuxedo. Going against etiquette, his pitch-black sunglasses are still there, doing wonders to cover his eyes but doing little to cover the 'X' over his face. To Jin, it is visible the man is attentive just as everybody else, as he lightly tilts his head every now and then.

The only ally who is 'confirmed', and has yet to arrive, is the bride, Nina Williams. And when he turns to gaze the entrance, as if on cue, there she is. As expected, her garment is fully white. Her hair is tied up with flowers on her usual simplistic single ponytail, but the tips are gently curled, and there are two braids in each side of her head. A veil falls behind covering almost her full back, while the front part covers her whole face and goes until her chest. Gloves cover her arms almost fully, and the left arm has a lace flower bracelet on the cuff, besides a pearl bracelet on her wrist, and in the list of accessories there is also the pair of long silver earrings she has on. Her dress is strapless, and has two layers. The first one covers her silhouette tightly, while the second one begins on her waistline and the fabric falls freely surrounding her bottom limbs until the floor, but showing some skin on the left leg, beginning on the knee. It gives enough space to see her high heels with ribbons around her calves, over discreet stockings.

Her face is as stoic as Jin's, and the guests are all already in silence, watching her from their seats. Instead of being accompanied by a man, who is usually the father on a Christian ceremony, she is alone. As she takes the first step in the small series of stairs, the band starts to play a matrimony music. She calmly takes the second step, then the third, the fourth, the fifth, and then the sixth.

She then takes some few slow steps until the main door. By this point, the guests are already standing. When she puts her right foot actually inside the building, her image is replaced by one of fire, and the sound of the band has been muttered as desperate screams overcome it, following a loud 'boom' sound. The soldiers that had been camouflaged as guests all along, take the actual guests out of the place through secret passages behind the altar. Lei, Alisa and Raven are on their feet walking towards the red carpet, but Nina, Lars and Robyn are nowhere to be seen.

As the fire is ceased by itself, an image emerges from the thick smoke. And as it gets closer, the trio in the center take a step back each, while Jin takes a couple steps forward to get down the altar. The person in front of them is a woman who looks a lot like the bride. Her eyes are also icy blue, and she also has a curvaceous body and short stature, but her hair is shorter and of darker color. She has a bright navy blue long dress, with a colorful dragon print in one of the sides, accompanied by shoes and lace forearm gloves of the same color, and black lace stockings covering her legs, which are exposed by an opening in the gown's skirt. They know who she is, – even though her natural auburn brown hair is dyed black – just as she knows who they are. She smirks as she stops in front of them.

"Get out." Raven says authority-like.

"But the party hasn't even started." The woman says with a baby-like pout and a fake frustrated expression. As they could expect of her, her voice is soothingly sensual.

"Ms. Williams, please just make things easier." Lei says frustrated.

She scoffs, and it then quickly changes to her usual seductive smirk. "I'm not an easy one, baby." She blinks her right eye, while Lei rolls both his eyes under closed eyelids, in a rare showcase of annoyance coming from him, although still discreet. "Besides, I have come from far away. I would never miss my dear sister's marriage." She continues, still smirking, but this time devilishly.

"If you do not mind, I can handle her." Alisa says, on her usual polite manner. Lei and Raven nod to the android girl as Anna laughs and gets on her fighting stance. Alisa follows suit. The men leave to circle the room, to see if anybody has been left behind or if there are another bombs or any other kinds of traps, besides checking Lars, Nina and Robyn.

"Well, well, look what we have here." Anna says mockingly, on her smooth, deep feminine voice. "A _robot_ girl trying to be a tough human lady." Alisa doesn't answer. Both keep circling each other until Anna starts the mockery again. "I really don't get what that blondie saw on you. He'd be doing much better with someone like me." She grins. She knows Lars is the girl's weak spot.

Alisa frowns, in a rare moment in which she shows anger. It is so unusual that it seems like an alien display on her face. That has been happening a lot lately. She's tired of being told she's not enough of a human, yet not enough of an android. She's too non-biological, yet too biological. Too technological, yet too chemical. Too functional and too dysfunctional.

Her train of thought is cut by Anna's right hand slapping her, and then she's thrown back by a roundhouse kick – a combination called Poison Sting & Spinning Kick.

Alisa quickly stands and runs in the direction of her opponent. She attempts to perform the Accelerator – a simple roundhouse kick – but Anna easily sidesteps and makes her Imploding Star, jumping in the air and stretching her right leg, hitting Alisa's stomach with her foot and throwing the pink-haired girl backwards.

Anna simply smirks while Alisa stands one more time. Her mockery had the result she wanted. However, this time Alisa manages to hit Anna, playing with her mind as she comes jumping, but suddenly, slides on the ground, kicking Anna's calves and almost taking her balance away, in a move called Eject Slider. Anna doesn't understand how exactly that was done, but since it doesn't actually matter, she performs a strike of her own before Alisa can continue her attack. The assassin does the Blonde Bomb, pushing Alisa backwards one more time, so Anna herself can have some space before the next attack.

Alisa gets up just as quickly as she did the last times, but differently from before, she starts circling her opponent instead of running at full speed. Her anger has turned into a determined fury to stand out for herself. Human, cyborg, whatever – she is Alisa, and she is not going to let people put her down for being herself.

By this point, Jin has already hid himself behind the table in the altar. He is not feeling well. He holds his head with the left hand, and his stomach with the right hand as he struggles with his own pain. Unfortunately, he knows what this means.

In a far corner, Lei finds Robyn struggling to get up, her orange outfit has been torn and scorched, which has turned great parts of it into some tone of greyish black. He approaches her, and while crouching, he assists her to get to another corner, in the far other side, up in the altar. In the middle of the path, however, a figure blocks their way. Both instantly roll backwards and stand, with Robyn making an extra amount of effort for such thing, as she still needs to recover from the explosion. Once again, they know who the figure is, but this time, the figure knows only one of them.

The figure is an old man in his mid-70s, bald in the center but showcasing spiky white hair in his sides of the head, matching up with his beard. He is wearing a coat of a bland tone of dark violet, with white fur slightly tinted with magenta on its edges. His shoes, pants and waistcoat are white, and there is a dark grey shirt under them. His face has a smirk on. "I am deeply sad I haven't been invited to my own grandson's marriage."

"You should talk about that with _him_ , then." Robyn says annoyed.

"And who do you think you are?" Only now Heihachi turns to see her. His tone slight shows that he's actually uninterested.

"Definitely someone more important than you, as _I_ was on the guest list." She says, mockingly, on her strong accent.

It gets on the old man's nerves, and he stomps the ground with all his mighty, cracking up the floor beneath him, as he angrily gets on his fighting stance. "I am Heihachi Mishima! You should be kneeling before me!" He shouts loudly, with his raspy voice at the top of his lungs.

"What a mewling quim." She says under her breath, mockingly, as she quickly unties her bun and her braids fall freely behind her shoulders, with the tips almost touching the ground. She gets on the fighting stance, which is the same as Raven's, and so does Lei. _(The Avengers' Loki reference!)_

Heihachi turns his anger towards the black woman to a fury passion within, as he always does to anything and anyone, everything and everyone. His first attack is the Demon Executioner, a three-punch combo. Although the first two hit her in the face, as he spins to make the third one, which was supposed to throw her backwards with electricity, is dodged by her as she crouches and performs a Right Straight to Left Low Kick, cutting off his attack.

Heihachi decides to do a quicker strike this time, and when he performs his Lightning Crush, he smirks as it works, with his left knee hitting her stomach and sending her backwards. Before he is able to enjoy it, however, Lei charges at him doing his trademark High and Low Kicks, two spinning strikes, a move that results in Heihachi on the ground and Lei with his back turned to the opponent. Heihachi had almost forgot of Lei. _Almost._

By this point, Robyn is already by Lei's side, as Heihachi rolls backwards and face them. The old man laughs maniacally, in his usual fashion. "The fact that you're genuinely trying is so amusing."

"And the fact that you think you've gotten the upper hand is so funny." Robyn says. A mouth-closed chuckle escapes through Lei's throat.

Heihachi's expression turns to a scowl. "You're such an insolent bitch, aren't you?" He says insultingly, as the opponents circle each other.

"Proudly." She says smirking.

With that said, she charges at him. When Heihachi was about to cut her off, or at least he thought, she disappears in front of him. The thing is that it had been her plan all along, and she reappears in the air with a fist hitting his head as she falls – a move called Death from Above. She lands gracefully once the ground as Heihachi collides hardly with the granite.

"The Ninjutsu never fails to amaze me." Lei says, in English, remembering that Japanese is not Robyn's first language.

"Neither does the Wu Xing and the Zui Qhan to me." She says, smiling a quick sympathetic smile towards him. Although speaking English, her accent is still strong. Lei makes a mind note about it, out of pure curiosity – _the detective curse_ , he thinks humorously.

Letting a frustrated battle scream leave his mouth, Heihachi, who's already standing, performs the Hell Axle, a kick of each leg while in the air. It also brings Robyn to the air, only to throw her back onto the ground, in the same hard fashion she had done with him. Lei was about to strike, but predicting the move, Heihachi turns and simply does the Demon Uppercut, raising him high in the air. He then does the Quick Executioner, while Lei is still falling, punching him once and then throwing him Lei backwards with the same punch that had failed to hit Robyn just minutes ago.

And speaking of Robyn, she is already on her feet and makes the Soul Steal, hitting Heihachi in the back and then in the stomach, pushing him a few steps away from where he was. He quickly gets into his special Raijin stance and performs the Lightning Bolt, which makes the lady fall to the ground in pain, as she holds her belly. Heihachi takes a couple steps back while smirking, waiting for their _pathetic_ opponents, as he describes himself in his mind, to get up.

Little do they know that Jin has heard the battle's screams. Now he knows the reason behind his pain – his 'dear' grandfather. Technically, he already did – he knew it was the Devil within – but he just didn't know why the demon wanted to awaken so badly. And as if on cue, the pain stops, as the hate for Heihachi is one of the few things Jin and his Devil have in common. He takes slow steps, while crouched as to keep himself hid, aiming the direction of the old man's screaming.

While Robyn and Lei are fighting Heihachi in the far right, and Alisa is still fighting Anna in the middle of the place, Raven is by the far left checking out the main camera of the many ones which would broadcast the event live. Luckily enough, the bomb came before they were supposed to start the transmission, so nothing has been seen by the public.

No more bombs of any another kinds of traps have been installed in the building, most likely because they would have been easily noticed way before the ceremony. In such an occasion, discreetness was Anna's only option. Still, Raven wonders how the brunette managed to plant it.

As of injured people, none of the guests are here. The Tekken Force was very efficient in evacuating the place. Lars and Nina, however, still have to appear. But instead of waiting for them, Raven is going to look for them. He goes to the direction of the corner, and from there turns aiming to get at the entrance without getting in the middle of Alisa and Anna's battle.

Just as he spins on his heels, he finds Lars on the ground two steps away of him, and not too far from where the Swedish man was sitting before. That's logical, since the bomb was planted on the other side of the main door, so it wasn't enough to throw Lars _that_ far away.

As Raven gets closers and kneels to check him, Lars starts getting up. He stays on the ground, but now in a sitting position, with his back against the pew. "Are you okay?" Raven asks.

"Yes." Lars answers in a puffy way. "It was only a scare." A half-chuckle escapes his mouth, and once again he sounds puffy.

"Take a breath, and stay down." Raven says. "That was Anna's work."

"Williams?"

"Yes." Raven answers as if it was obvious. After all, what other Anna could it be?

"Not Kazuya's?"

Now Raven understands Lars' previous question. "As far as we know, it's hard to determine. Either way, she's still the one who planted the bomb." He answers. "She's currently in the building. Alisa is taking care of her."

"Alisa?" Lars says, sounding concerned.

A fight scream coming from the other side of the church is heard, louder than the previous ones that had already dominated the background sound, interrupting their already short conversation. "Stay down." Raven repeats himself. "Get up when you feel better. Anna is not the only intruder present." He further explains, although still keeping the message short. "I need to look for Nina."

Lars nods, and Raven gets up, leaving through the door. He easily spots a messy pile of white fabric in between thick green bushes. The leaves are moving violently, and Raven opens a space between them. Nina instantly gets up. "Stupid bush." She mutters. Raven extends a hand, and she takes it with her right one as her left is holding her temple.

"Are you alright?" He asks as she stands on her own.

She is pressing her hand hard against her forehead, facing the ground while contorting her face in slight pain. "I hit my head on the wall and now I'm feeling a bit dizzy." She says. "But I've already been in far worse situations." She adds, letting her hand fall to her side, facing Raven with her head held high.

He nods, and continues. "Anna and Heihachi are inside." Nina raises an eyebrow. On cue, Raven elaborates further. "It's not possible to determine if they have teamed up."

"What about Kazuya?"

"Also unknown." He says. She nods, and Raven goes back inside the place, crouching as to get there hidden.

The second layer of Nina's dress, which forms the skirt, is randomly torn because of the explosion, and dirty in greyish black and reddish brown thanks to the smoke and the mud. Nina rips a great part of it, to reveal not only her left leg fully, but also a dark brown holster on her thigh, containing three guns and a smoke grenade.

Crouching in the same fashion Raven had, she hides herself in between the last pews of the right, only to find Lars starting to get up from a sitting position. "Hey there." He says casually, as he usually does, like nothing serious is going on. Nina, always simplistic, simply nods to him in acknowledgement as she watches Anna and Alisa's fighting, holding her smoke grenade on her right hand, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

Suddenly, however, she loses focus for an instant as an unusual, yet very well known, lightning is seen in the background. In the far other side of the room, she easily recognizes an old man of spiky hair.

"Lars." She says, and then turns to him. He turns to her in full attention, sensing the seriousness of her voice. "I think you should go to the other side." She says, and after staring at him for one or two silent seconds, she once again turns to watch her sister and the pink-haired girl.

Lars doesn't understand exactly what she means, so he tries to take a look on the other side of the room. However, it is impossible for him to see anything from his spot without also being seen by the others.

Still crouching, he starts migrating to the altar, and when he gets under a table in the center of it, he spots Jin behind a purple velvet curtain in the far corner in front of him. Jin seems to be watching what Nina had referred to.

Lars turns to the same spot Jin is staring at, and he allows his jaw to drop at the sight. Heihachi Mishima himself is there, fighting against Lei and Robyn. Lars can already feel his blood boiling inside, with his own electricity heating it up, as he closes his fists and an expression of fury takes over his face. And just as Nina had been doing, he now waits for the perfect opportunity to join a fight.

After a couple minutes of watching, he remembers that Jin is most likely doing the same thing, so he turns to the direction of the corner. He finds Jin already staring at him. The younger one simply nods once to Lars from behind the curtains. Lars nods back, and both turn to the fight again.

Suddenly, the second boom sound of the morning is heard, coming from the center of the room. Everybody instantly stops whatever they were doing and turn to the direction of the sound. Alisa and Nina are standing beside each other, and a huge amount of thick grey smoke is in front of them. Lars can't spot the grenade that had been on Nina's hand.

Nina turns her head to Alisa and nods once, and the pink-haired girl answers with a polite bow. What happened is that Alisa chose to do a risky move when she realized, perhaps quite late, that Anna already knew that she is an android. That means she could go full force, and so she did – she made a Double Rocket Punch, by flying and shooting a rocket directly at Anna. That was the type of chance Nina was looking for, so she strategically threw her grenade in the ground close to Anna, giving her sister no window to escape. Although Alisa's strike would have already made a good amount of destruction, Nina's grenade ended in an unconscious Anna.

When Nina was about to get her gun and 'finish the job', Raven appears out of nowhere, in the usual ninja way, in front of the two women. "We have company."

Heihachi starts laughing wildly. "Let me introduce you to my committee!"

As everybody is confused, Nina, Alisa and Raven run to the altar, to hide behind the tables, and spy the entrance with frowns as many steps are heard. Before following Lei to do the same thing as the rest, however, Robyn doesn't miss the chance to make a quick strike before Heihachi stops laughing, so she does the Shadow Spear, throwing the old man far backwards with her right hand. "Won't you never shut up?" She says annoyed, looking at him with the disgust, and then going to the altar as everybody else has already done.

The move was enough to take Jin's and Lars' attentions back to Heihachi. Sensing the chance, both don't even look at each in acknowledgement as they start running in the direction of the old man. Robyn and Lei have already run through the place and joined Alisa, Nina and Raven in the middle of the altar.

The group of five is hiding behind different white tables, and watch a troop of men in white approach the entrance. There is about five hundred men in white armor, with what could only be described as red giant behind them, following their steps.

The five allies eye each other briefly. The men are heavily armed, and the Tekken Force is nowhere near – they are probably still relocating the guests, which means counting on them now is pointless.

Nina gets a pistol from her holster, and she sees Lei getting one from inside his suit. Raven does the same, but his gun is a pair of kunai. Robyn cuts her braids on shoulder-length with a machete as if nothing was happening. Nina allows herself to raise an eyebrow as she has no idea from where Robyn got such a weapon. Turning to see Alisa, the girl is so focused on the soldiers outside that she seems to be on another planet – she is probably calculating something.

Turning to watch the entrance, she sees the men approaching. There are about five hundred of them – _that's not good_ , Nina thinks. She also realizes that Anna is not lying unconscious on the ground anymore – she makes a mind note about it.

"Do you have any plans of attack?" Lei asks.

"Attacking, perhaps?" Robyn answers half-annoyed. _(Another The Avengers reference!)_

"Let me handle the first row." Alisa says. Everybody nods.

"At least two of us should surprise them from behind." Raven suggests.

"That can be good." Alisa says. Knowing her opinion on a battle strategy is of paramount importance, because besides the fact that all of them have years of combat experience, Alisa's logical analysis is far better since her brain is _literally_ a computer. "However, behind them there is that red individual."

"Do you know what it is?" Nina asks.

"I have no data of similar subjects." Alisa says. "Because of his structure, there's nothing revealing enough to help me understand its nature." With that, everybody gets that her computer is not able to determine if the red individual is human or else.

"Well, whatever he is, he's strong. Making him angry wouldn't be good." Robyn says.

At this point, the first row of soldiers is already inside the church, looking for enemies they know are there. They have clearly seen Jin and Lars, but they don't interfere on it since their boss, Heihachi, is there too.

"Once I get the first row, I'll handle the red subject." Alisa makes a quick decision. "Someone please try to contact the Tekken Force. They are obviously too busy with the guests, but they won't be forever." She says. "Besides, having NANCY and Combot as assistance would be good."

Everybody nods, and Alisa instantly raises herself from the ground with her jet engines, and rises to the ceiling. The front line of the troop try to shoot her, but Alisa is too fast for them, making nonlinear movements. Each turn she takes, she carries a soldier with her, holding its neck. She throws them away harshly, usually for them to collapse on a wall, before doing the same to other one.

With those actions, the second line is a bit startled and takes a bit more than the normal to react, which gives Nina and Lei a good window to shoot. While that, Robyn and Raven have already left the inside of the place through rear doors, to be prepared to attack the last lines of soldiers when Alisa starts dealing with the red giant.

Once the first line is incapacitated, and the second one is being almost massacred by Lei and Nina's precise bullets, Alisa literally disconnects her head from her neck and throws it right in the middle of the troops. Once it touches the ground, it explodes, weakening them even more. She flies to the direction of the ginormous blood-colored subject in the rear of the troop that seems to be _very_ pissed off by what she has done.

Robyn and Raven give the soldiers no window to recover from the explosion, and what follows is a massive bloodshed as they cut either their inferior limbs or necks, with Raven using his two kunai and Robyn using the machete.

With that small gap of time until the next line of enemy soldiers comes inside, Lei takes a cellphone out of his inner pocket. Pressing not too many buttons, he easily is able to call the Mishima Zaibatsu's Headquarters. "This is Lieutenant Beaumont, currently on command." A man says in the other side of the line, on that usual soldier-like voice, showcasing his French accent.

"We need soldiers in the ballroom, as fast as possible." Lei says rapidly.

"I have already assigned a good amount of soldiers to assist you once they're done with reallocating the guests in safety."

"Send NANCY and Lee's courtesy Combot as well."

"Understood."

"Over and out." Lei quickly says and shoves the cellphone back to his pocket, also taking another gun out of there, since his first and second pistols are already out of bullets.

 **…**

While that, in the far side of the room, Heihachi, Lars and Jin are fighting each other, as one would expect. The sound is a mix of their electricity's cracking, tired gasps, battle screams, and Heihachi's mockery.

Lars punches Heihachi's stomach with a mighty right hand with the fist closed, then spins and makes a powerful roundhouse kick with his left leg, sending the old man backwards – a move called Gilbert Cannon.

Heihachi gets up laughing. " _Gwahahaha!_ Good to see you're nothing like your mother! No son of mine is soft and merciful."

For the first time since the beginning of the fight, Heihachi manages to strike a nerve on someone, which happens to be Lars in this case. "Do _not_ mention my mother."

Heihachi only laughs again. "That remembers me of a certain someone." He turns to Jin. "I recall that same sentence coming from another Mishima some time ago." He grins.

That also strikes a nerve on Jin. He remembers the situation. One could believe Heihachi did cruelties to Jin daily, but it was actually once. In a certain day, some days before Jin's 19th birthday, he was training in a dojo on the Mishima Estate, as usual. He was sparring with his grandfather, and there was something else in Heihachi's eyes. After a while, Heihachi seemed to be impatient, and then said 'You better not let your mother's softness reach into you.'

That was enough to trigger something within Jin that he didn't even know that existed at the time. Regaining his energy out of nowhere, Jin said with clenched teeth 'Do not mention my mother.', and started attacking with abnormal fury, electricity running through his veins, and sweat dripping from his forehead like a waterfall.

Little did Jin know that all Heihachi wanted was exactly that - a confirmation of the Devil within Jin, although the young one was oblivious to it. But Heihachi wasn't – he could sense it. Even though he is not spiritual or anything similar, he had already been in the presence of the entity before, and he knew how it felt like. Upon seeing it, Heihachi knew it was time for Jin to face Toshin, so he told his grandson about The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 later that day.

Jin clenches his eyebrows. "So don't make me repeat myself." Jin says in a threatening tone.

"It's not like I care about either of them." Heihachi says, in a dismissive tone, as he aims to strike his other family members, but Lars blocks it and Jin's dodges it.

"How come you don't?!" Lars screams in disbelief before Jin is able to say anything else, punching Heihachi twice. "I'm pretty sure I read the opposite on my file."

Heihachi goes dead silent as he takes a few step backwards, and Jin turns to Lars to understand what's going on, while the Swedish man keeps on screaming. "You may have not loved her, but that didn't stop you from lurking around her, did it?!"

Jin turns back to Heihachi, and now the two younger Mishimas stare at Heihachi as if waiting for an answer. The old man clenches his eyebrows in anger, and performs a combo on the younger ones, starting it on Lars and finishing it on Jin.

Both get up quickly, and Lars' fury is still there. "And why did you even bother to _write it_ at _my_ file?!"

After a quick, almost imperceptible sigh, Heihachi answers in a sudden change of spirit. "You had the right to know."

Lars drops his arms a bit for a millisecond. That got him by surprise. He didn't actually expect Heihachi to answer. But his anger is at its full right now, so his fighting stance goes back to the correct position. "Why did you leave her to die?!"

"It's not like there was something I could've done." That's all he says before he starts a combo on an inattentive Lars. Jin gets into the fight as well, and they engage in the rhythm they had been before.

 **…**

Alisa has been fighting against the red giant for some minutes now. She is fast, so the subject hasn't managed to hit her yet. That, however, doesn't necessarily mean she has gotten the upper hand, since her strikes and weapons do not seem to affect the individual substantially.

The giant is red, as already mentioned, and has a humanoid form, but has a much disproportioned size – 2.5 meters of height. Some random black metal pieces of armor are present in his body parts here and there, with some cables coming from them and floating freely, as they have just been forcefully disconnected out of other parts of the very same body. His head is inside of something similar to an astronaut helmet, and through the glass, a mouth can be seen, besides what could only be described as six eyes, although they're only shining balls with no specific shape. The sentences "01 Prototype" and "Caution High Voltage" can be read on different parts of his armor.

Alisa's mechanical eyes are not able to see through the giant's 'armor', or whatever that is. That means that the material was chosen specifically taking into consideration that a cyborg or robot could eventually try to see through it.

With all that taken into consideration, Alisa's database classifies the creature as a threat, and as 'most likely inhuman, but of humanoid structure'.

Suddenly, Alisa hears a piercing scream coming from behind. She knows whose scream it is. The millisecond she used to decide whether to go there and help the person, or to stay where she is and keep on fighting the humanoid, was enough of a window to the red giant. He attacks her with tremendous might, bringing his two closed fists down, putting her on the ground. There, he keeps on punching her, not allowing her to stand, and then suddenly grabs her and throws her away.

She collapses on the ground again. _System capacity at 95%_ , she tells herself on her mind. 5% is a considerable amount of damage when taking into consideration that Alisa was designed specifically for combat, which means that she should be able to last for very long periods. Only very few people should be able to do such an amount of destruction on her – a.k.a. the Mishimas –, yet the humanoid's strikes on her head managed to affect her.

While getting up, she makes a mind note not only about that, but also at how the giant's move is familiar to her. Alisa, however, can't waste her time on trying to search her database as that would give the opponent another window to attack. She resumes her fighting rhythm of before, and their confrontation goes back to the point where it had been: she's too fast for him, yet not strong enough to substantially weaken him.

 **…**

A few meters from there, Anna is dragging an unconscious Robyn to the woods. The cry heard by Alisa had been the female ninja's. Anna feels an absurd mount of pain on her body, thanks to the explosion, but she's an assassin prepared for such situations.

Unlike Heihachi, who somehow actually managed to bring a full armed troop with him, Anna wasn't able to do the same thing. All she did was bribing Jin's secretary so she could get in. All she managed to do was bringing a bomb with her, as bringing anything else would lead to her disclosure.

Because of that, once she woke up from unconsciousness, she hid behind the bushes outside, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike her oblivious enemies. Once the window came, she did it, and the victim was Robyn. Anna took hold of the ninja's arms and made a movement too quick for the black woman to avoid, making Robyn cut herself in the right leg with the machete.

The cut was rather deep and the woman was not able to retaliate Anna's strike on her head, leading her to faint. Anna then quickly dragged the woman and her weapon far away from there, to a nearby small forest of the Estate.

"You." Anna hears a deep female voice call. The tone expresses coldness, but not out of seriousness, but rather disaffection – _rivalry_ , the word crosses Anna's mind as she smirks. She knows whose voice it is.

The brunette assassin stands from the crouching position she had been, with Robyn's machete on her right hand. She turns to face the owner of the voice. Her eyes meet a blonde assassin in white bride clothes – her sister.

"I see that now you've given up on the surprise element." Anna says.

Nina narrows her eyes slightly, but does not answer.

"Where's your robot friend?" Anna attempts to mock her sister, but the blonde assassin still doesn't answer.

Anna sighs in frustration. "You have the grand gift of silence, Nina; it makes you quite invaluable as a companion." _(Sherlock Holmes reference! Yaasss, I love references!)_

Nina smirks. "You've always been one to talk too much."

"You've always been one to talk too less."

Nina's smirk leaves her face. "You're not worthy of my words."

"Don't play superior with me." Anna says. "You know we're equal. And that's what bothers you so much."

Nina narrows her eyes again, this time more significantly. "I'll never be like you."

"You already are."

"No."

"How come not?" Anna says before Nina is able to continue. "We're both Williams. We're both assassins. We've both been to cryogenic sleep. And although I hate to admit it, we're both good-looking, even though I'm hotter than you."

Nina can't help but roll her eyes under closed eyelids. "You've always been so simple minded. That's one of our differences." The blonde answers. "Allow me to give you a reality check." She says, making a brief pause before continuing. "You're not only simple minded, but lacks long-term planning – you're too narrow-minded. You also lack any kind of concrete goals, putting all your will into 'being against me' instead of doing something at least a bit productive." She says. "And above all, you held no love nor respect for our father, which lead to his death."

Now it is Anna's turn not to answer. Never before Nina spoke for so long. And what she hates the most about this situation is that the brunette knows her sister is right. Nobody has ever read her in such a way.

It only serves to fuel her rage, however, as she realizes there's actually something wrong about her sister's argumentation. "You're wrong, Nina." Surprisingly enough, her tone does not show anger. "Everything I do has a concrete goal, though it has been long lost. It had been endued of long-term planning, although I disregarded the only possibility that actually came to happen: our father's death." She says.

"And you're also wrong when you say I didn't respect him. I may have not loved him, that's true, just as he didn't love me. But you're right to say we may not be very similar, as unlike you, I'm not unaffectionate, and wouldn't harm him in the way he harmed me, or in the way you harmed me. That's something I learned with mother."

Nina doesn't say a word. Anna continues. "You keep on blaming me for his death when he actually right in what he did – you just don't want to accept it. For that, you are the one who doesn't respect him. You fail to realize he did what he did because, at least once in his life, he showed affection towards me."

Nina's face turns to one of fury. "But had you not involved yourself in business not meant to you, none of that would ever happen!"

Anna sighs. "And had father not pushed me aside so much, I wouldn't have done it!" She says, raising her voice. "Had he taught me the things he taught you, had he loved me in the way he loved you, none of the things that happened in our lives would have ever happened! Literally _everything_ would have been different! You keep on blaming _me_ for the things _he_ caused!"

"You could have always chosen another path!"

"So could you!" Anna screams before Nina is able to continue whatever argument she had.

Nina's expression goes stoic, and she goes silent. Anna actually has a good logic, though the blonde one hates to admit. Nina suddenly, however, remembers of a context in which she actually chose the other path. "But I have, Anna." She says, while being embraced by feelings she had long forgotten. "How do you think I felt whenever mother dismissed _me_?"

Anna's expression goes serious as well, but there's a hint of surprise on her eyes. Nothing else needs to be said. Anna knows how it is to feel excluded. She just didn't know Nina had ever felt that.

"The difference is that I tried to embrace what I had." Nina finishes.

"While I tried to embrace what should've been _ours_." Anna says. "The full family."

Nina closes her eyes as Anna continues. "Sadly, father only realized his mistakes when it was too late." The brunette says. "You're right to say I shouldn't have looked for business that was, so far, hadn't been meant to me – assassination arts. It wasn't a really bright idea." Anna can't help but faintly chuckle to herself. "But, somehow, it made father realize how far I could go. For the first time, he was no longer able to turn his head away from the potential he knew I had. But once he was forced to look, he also saw me in danger, and he _had_ to rescue me." She makes a brief pause. "Of course nobody had expected him to die in the process – not even himself."

Nina opens her eyelids to see a stubborn tear falling from one of Anna's eyes. The brunette's face, however, is hard as a stone. For the first time in years, the sisters actually understand each other.

"The long-term goal I had was to prove to the world, and mainly to father, that I was good as you." Anna says. "It has been long lost not only because he has died, but also because I realized that I have _always_ been as good as you." She makes a brief pause. "I did not love him, but I wanted to be able to."

Deafening silence falls upon them as they keep staring at each other stoically. Both minds are numbed and confused with interpretations of the past and scenes of the consequences. Sentiments of sadness and nostalgia overcome the icy hearts of the assassins in a way they never do.

They had been accustomed to always look forward, pushing aside whatever reasons they once had, leaving them behind with distant memories. For the first time in years, they stop to look back. And it hurts.

They had never been open like this. They had never discussed matters like this. And, above all that, they had never truly understood the other like they do now.

But isn't it too late now? Decades have passed. Battles have taken place. Rivalry has established itself. Can they simply let things go like this? But besides that, there's way more in question now. Pushing aside personal matters, they're still in the opposite sides of the same coin. One of them works for Jin under the Zaibatsu, and the other works for Kazuya under G Corp. They're of the mechanisms of a hating machine. They've long endued themselves with this fate.

With the mutual realization, they slowly get to their fighting stances. But an alien expression is present on both of their faces: comprehension towards the other.

 **…**

The Mishima battle has been stopped by a sudden explosion. Heihachi was sent towards the stairs of the altar, while Jin and Lars were sent to the far other side.

The explosion was caused by a Jack robot. Heihachi already knew Kazuya wouldn't miss the chance to attack as well. The old man smirks. _Great minds think alike – no son of mine is dumb_. He gets up to a crouching position and hides behind some statues.

The old man knows this is the perfect opportunity to escape, as his primary reason was not to directly face his offspring, but rather to unstable the Zaibatsu enough for him to take over.

Taking some sort of remote control from his inside pocket, a gadget he managed to protect during the fight, he presses a small combination of buttons.

Upon seeing that Gigas, the red humanoid, has already obeyed to his commands, he quickly leaves the ballroom through rear doors he knows very well.

Coincidentally enough, Tekken Forces start to approach, joined by Combot, a courtesy of Lee's Violet Systems, and NANCY-MI849J, the newest model of the Bloody Nancy robot.

The Tekken Force greatly outnumbers the almost extinguished enemy troops. In an unexpected move, Heihachi's soldiers quickly run towards the ballroom, followed by the giant.

Alisa and Raven, joined by the other two robots, lead the Tekken Force inside. The ninja joins the Mishima troops in the combat against the enemy soldiers, while Alisa, Nancy, and Combot go after the red subject, only to find him crouched in the center of the place.

The trio approaches him, but stop as Alisa spots what seems to be a Prototype Jack-7 getting closer to an injured Lars coming to his feet and a distressed Jin contorting himself on the floor besides his half-uncle, in the far side of the place, on the corner. _That is not a good sign_.

Suddenly, Prototype Jack stops and simply launches himself from the ground with the aid of his feet rockets, and breaking through the ceiling, he leaves. Alisa allows herself to frown, but it quickly leaves her face as her eyes meet Lars'. Their millisecond gaze is broken when the female android sees a pair of black feathered wings wide-open behind the Swedish-Japanese man – the Devil has taken the hold over Jin.

Lars senses it, and quickly turns, only to be punched hard in the face. Hunger for destruction is on the demon's eyes. Lars slowly crawls backwards as Devil Jin wears a malicious grin on his face, approaching the other with the worst intentions. Under the demonic person's bangs, Lars can see the third eye staring to glow with electricity.

By this point, Alisa has thrown away whatever resentment she was feeling towards Lars. It is, perhaps, the most irrational response she has ever had to something – and, ironically, probably the one closest to a human. All she wants to do is go to Lars' aid.

However, remembers herself of her current task. Realizing this has been long enough of a window for her and her robotic companions to be hit, she turns confusedly to the red giant before her, who has not taken advantage out of it. The subject is still crouched; it hasn't moved, not even a centimeter. She takes a couple slow steps to analyze it better, keeping her guard on.

As if on cue, the red individual explodes. Blowing up the whole place and sending everyone rocketing through the air, meters away from what had been the ballroom, it all happens too fast for anyone to register. The magnificent building has turned into a messy pile of random wreckage and unconscious bodies displayed in unorganized fashion. Most things are destroyed and most people are burned, all thanks to the burning fire.

 _The clash is over._

 **…**

The Williams sisters haven't had not even a second of break. And unlike how it usually is, this turn around, they're silently – no mockery or insults came from any of the sides. Never before their battling has been so intense and endued of passion. It has come to a point in which they don't even understand why they're fighting anymore – they just do it.

However, they come to a stop when a rumbling noise reaches their ears. The powerful and loud sound make them stop completely. Turning to the direction of it, they see what had been the ballroom on fire – an explosion took place. _That escalated quickly_ , Anna thinks.

In the moment of distraction, Prototype Jack lands above Nina, striking her in the head with his feet, leaving her unconscious on the ground. Anna frowns out of frustration. She knows very well who sent the robot – _Kazuya_.

P. Jack turns to the brunette assassin. Sighing, Anna starts giving him orders. "Take the ninja and Ms. Williams. I can make my own way out of this place."

The robot doesn't even nods – he simply does as he's told, and leaves flying, with the two women on each of his shoulders.

Anna enters further into the woods, using the stolen machete every now and then to open the path, aiming to find the other side and escaping without being noticed.

 _The clash is over._

* * *

 _[Day 14]_

 _Saturday, 01:00 UTC (10:00 in local time)  
_ _Kyoto, Japan_

After walking for a couple of minutes, three people reach a rather dark room with two hospital beds of greyish sheets – the classic 'crazy scientist' chamber. The room has been specifically settled accordingly to the aforementioned crazy scientist's needs, and as he gets in, he heads towards a small refrigerator of transparent door, and gets two plastic bags with a light blue liquid.

"Well, I should tell you how it works beforehand." One of them – an old man of messy grey hair and round glasses – says to the two others – a masked man holding a fumaken and a masked woman in chains. "This is the truth serum, and it works just as a normal hospital serum – it is injected directly in the arm."

The grey-haired man puts one of the bags in the metallic supporter beside one of the beds as he keeps on talking. "The name of it is quite self-explaining, and I presume you already know what it is for since you've asked for it."

He crosses the room and starts putting the other bag in the metallic supporter beside the second bed. "Each of these bags last for one hour. Fighting against it might cause you great pain, and even permanent side effects, since this is just an experimental substance. Also, avoid moving too much – safety reasons."

"After this is over with, the effect should have perished in about 5 minutes, and the substance should be completely gone from the body in 30 minutes." He explains. "Do I make myself clear?"

Both masked people nod once in agreement. "Good." He says. "Take your seats." The masked man goes to the left bed, and the masked woman to the other one, and they're now sitting beside one another. They turn their heads to the other and stay still as the scientist injects the syringe in each of them.

As he finishes, he talks once more. "The effects should start in 5 minutes. I will leave you alone for the sake of privacy."

"Thank you, Bosconovitch." The masked man says. The woman shortly nods once to express the same. "There's no need to thank me." Doctor B says to Yoshimitsu and to Kunitmisu, the aforementioned masked duo, and bows to them in acknowledgement, then leaving them alone in the room.

The room is embraced by muteness. More than 5 minutes have already passed, probably up to 10 already, but nobody is willing to be the first to talk. The bland dark greyish tones of the room are still more vivid than the relationship of the two ninjas.

Yoshimitsu decides to speak first, turning to her. "Why did you attack the dojos?"

"I was trying to get your attention." The answer is fast, just as if he had pressed a button on a computer keyboard and the result showed up instantly in the screen. The serum is already in works. Her gaze is on the ceiling.

He is eyeing a random spot of the room now. "You've never needed to do anything to get my attention."

"I've always felt as if it was the opposite." Kunimitsu says. "You've always either picked up on me, or pushed me aside completely."

"That's true." He acknowledges. _Only a serum could make him admit his own stubbornness_ , Kunimitsu thinks. "That was a result of my lack of clear judgement. I would never know how to deal with you properly."

"You indeed lack clear judgement. If you didn't, you wouldn't have expelled me of the Clan." She spits out, on her usual sharp manner of talking.

"No." He says. "It was the opposite. I had all reasons to kick you out, and I wouldn't let nobody interfere on the interests of the Clan – not even you."

"How is that so?" She asks with a fake amused tone.

"You stole from us." He says, a slight hint of accusation in his voice, turning to her again. He feels betrayed. "And you failed to prove your innocence." His voice goes back to normal.

She scoffs and turns to him. "I didn't fail anything!" She says angrily. "I didn't even say anything!"

He gazes somewhere else as he continues the arguing, with the same tone of anger present in his voice. "Exactly! How am I supposed to believe in you when you don't give me anything to believe in firstly?"

When Kunimitsu doesn't answer his question, he takes his eyes away from the wall on the far side of the room and gazes now at her face, only to see her lips contorting. A few noises start coming out of her throat, although her mouth is still closed. She's resisting.

"I thought you were an open book." He says, in an accusing tone again.

"You're always accusing me!" She gives in to anger, but the contorting is still going on the visible part of her face. "I don't trust you! I don't trust you!" She says, as if it was to make the pain go away, as her left hand is squeezing the greyish white sheet of the bed she's in, while she shakes her heads quickly to both sides. She's resisting way too much, and now she is moving back and forth from the waist up.

"And why should I trust you?! How can I not accuse you? How many reasons you've given me not to do so?!" He says, with poison coming out of his words.

Only such a serum could make them lose their tempers.

"Is that what you think of me?! What you expect from me?! _Failure?!_ " Kunimitsu continues the dialogue.

"No! I expect your best, but you always stab me in the back!"

"Trying to save myself from the accusing knives _you_ put in my throat!"

Both take a moment to breathe and calm themselves. "Then tell me now." Yoshimitsu says, with a voice lower in volume but still expressing angriness. "Tell me one good reason to believe you, _sister_."

Kunimitsu takes her gaze out of him and stares to the front as she starts contorting again. But this time, is much worse, and besides of moving back and forth, she starts sweating crazily and, then, coughing and choking with her own saliva.

"Stop evading, Kuniko." He says.

Kunimitsu breathes harder as she starts to think about the possibility of that. By doing only that, the pain starts is reduced a bit and she's able to think more clearly. Wasn't this what she always wanted to? Spit it all out and settle things, with no ceremony, with no lies?

"Fine." She manages to say in a short breath as she struggles with pain. As she does so, it stops completely, and she continues. "I had a lover."

Yoshimitsu chokes with his own saliva under his mask, and starts coughing. "What?!" He asks astonished.

"He was poor, and I stole for him." She says, looking down, staring at her legs.

"I see." It is all Yoshimitsu is able to say as he gazes away.

After a silent moment, Yoshimitsu speaks. "What happened to you after the second tournament?" He asks, with a hint of worry. "You disappeared."

Kunimitsu doesn't answer right away. Since she is not contorting, she is not resisting, but rather finding a way to put it in words as best as possible. "I moved out of Japan. I was sick and tired of air conditioners, so I lived as a burglar, since it was the only thing I knew how to do." She answers. "I'm not very proud of it, though." She admits.

"Is that all?" He asks out of pure curiosity, clear as all their dialogue thanks to the serum.

"My lover disappeared, so yes, that was it." Even though she answered it, now she is contorting in pain. There is a part she is trying to hide.

Tired of not being trusted by her, he tries to sound, once and for all, as convincing as possible. "Sister." Yoshimitsu says with concern. "Please."

"I can't, Yoshiro. Please." She manages to say.

"Even after all these years, I have never managed to erase our bond." He continues. Kunimitsu's pain is replaced by surprise, and she turns to him. Before she can speak anything, he continues once again. "Please. Trust me. It is all I've wanted since the start, back in the day. To be trusted by you and for you to trust me."

"If you want my trust, please don't force me to say it. I can't. It's beyond me." Kunimitsu quickly answers before the pain overcomes.

Yoshimitsu is quite surprised by the answer. If there's something he knows very well about his sister is her stubbornness, which enrages him to no end. However, this time things are different. Even under a truth serum, a substance that could cause even death because of resistance, she is still not complying to say it.

And if there's other thing he knows very well about his sister is that she's not one to die for nothing. She's not the kind of person who makes sacrifices. However, here she is, aiming to do it. That means that, whatever she's trying to hide, is truly beyond her.

"Fine." Yoshimitsu says, although he still wishes to know. "You don't need to say it."

Fast breaths of relief come out of Kunimitsu's mouth as the inhuman pain completely vanishes. "Thank you." She mutters.

Silence falls upon them once again.

After what feels like forever, Yoshimitsu speaks. "I'm sorry things had to turn out the way they have."

She simply nods as an answer. After a pause, she speaks. "Tell me what happened to you after the second tournament. I want to know of you too."

Yoshimitsu faces the ground, choosing his words. "Well, I turned my hatred for you into determination, and focused on the Clan. The Manji's influence grew together with our exclusivity."

Kunimitsu says nothing. He continues. "Some nineteen years later, there was the third tournament."

"I remember." She acknowledges, in low volume.

"I entered on it to help Doctor B, who was close to death at the time. He needed Toshin's blood."

"I remember that creature. It was all over the news, all around the world." She says. "They called it Ogre, I think."

"Exactly." He confirms. "I managed to do it, as you can see the doctor is alive and well." He says. "Then, there was the fourth tournament, and I entered on it with the Clan in mind." He continues. "There, when I invaded the Mishima Zaibatsu's vault, I found an injured Bryan Fury. He is a cyborg, and fellow Tekken fighter." Kunimitsu nods in understanding, and he continues. "I took him to Doctor B, who revived Fury, only for him to kill several Clan members. I learned he was going to participate in the fifth tournament, so I entered to defeat him."

"Did you do it?"

"Of course. The man is driven by rage. People like that always fall." Kunimitsu allows herself to faintly smile as she remembers of a past in which he would always teach her that. He doesn't see it.

"During that, I found out my Yoshimitsu is cursed, and it weakens itself in order to prevent the evilness to go to its owner. Because of that, I entered the sixth tournament to find a way to 'cure' the sword." He continues.

"That's why you're carrying a fumaken sword now?" She asks.

"Yes." He says. "Well, that's what happened to me."

"If grandpa was still alive, perhaps he could help." She says.

"I don't know. Maybe."

Muteness makes itself present on the room one more time, and as the minutes pass, the ninjas replay the conversation they've just had over and over again on their heads. After a while, the door is opened, and Doctor B gets inside.

"Excuse me." He says. "It's been an hour." As he says so, the ninjas turn to look to their bags, which are empty.

The clash is over.

Yoshimitsu turns to his sister. She nods. "We're done." Yoshimitsu says as to indicate to Doctor B that they won't need more bags. Bosconovitch gets closer, taking the syringes out of the ninjas' arms, and the duo stands. Doctor B then silently leads them to the door, where the duo thank him and leave.

"Kuniko." He calls.

She freezes on her spot and turns to her brother. "Yes?"

"I hope we are on good terms now."

Of course things are still not this easy, and both are very aware of that. However, Kunimitsu appreciates what he has done. This truth serum procedure is definitely against the Manji's rules, besides the fact that it had been what she wanted things to be – purely truthful. Hadn't it been the serum, it would have never been possible, as they're ninjas, not mind-readers – they wouldn't be able to know when the other is lying. The symbolism behind what her brother did, however, is even greater – that's how far he was willing to go for her.

Anyhow, the possibility of genuine good terms has never been actually taken into consideration, but she knows what he means. He wishes to have her by his side as a ninja – he's inviting her back to the Manji Clan. She doesn't even know if he can do such a thing, even being the leader.

"I suppose so, Yoshiro." She says, although in the back of her mind, she knows things are still not _that_ simple.

They resume their walk through dark and deserted corridors. Suddenly, something crosses Yoshimitsu's mind. "Why have you been looking for me only now?"

Kunimitsu doesn't answer instantly. She's either pondering, or the serum is not working anymore. "Because I couldn't do it before." That's all she says. Sensing she's not going to talk further, regardless of insisting, and also acknowledging to himself that there's no need to know further, Yoshimitsu drops the subject.

The faint lights above them allow a glimmer in the place, as the duo continues taking slow steps through the Manji Clan's headquarters.

* * *

 _[Day 14]_

 _Saturday, 09:30 UTC (06:30 in local time)  
_ _Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil_

"Eddy." A sweet yet intense female voice calls, with a serious tone.

The one called Eddy, a man of chocolate-colored skin and dreadlocks, instantly recognizes the owner of the voice. He holds back a smile as he turns his black chair to the direction from where the sound came from – the office's entrance.

There she is – Christie. A woman endued of many qualities: a good heart, exceptional capoeira skills, natural beauty, and a firm sense of righteousness. Unlike the usual, her warm-toned brown hair is not tied up – it is instead falling freely, touching her bare caramel skin on the shoulders and on the neck, as her tight black shirt is strapless and embraces her torso only, bringing her silhouette to evidence and leaving her arms fully exposed. The rest of her garment is composed by light blue denim shorts and brown sandals covering her feet until the ankles.

At the sight of Eddy, she takes no steps further and simply speaks what she has come to. "I feel like you're hiding something from me."

Those are words Eddy wish he didn't hear. He _is_ , indeed, hiding something from her. He didn't actually want this moment to come. But all decisions have their consequences – once he decided to cooperate with Jin Kazama, he knew what he had to go through.

Eddy still doesn't like Jin – he actually still despises him –, but he holds some sort of sympathy for Lars Alexandersson, who convinced him of joining a small group of allies, formed of fellow Tekken fighters, to bring down Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima.

It was risky, but it felt worth it. And not only Eddy knew that, but also all the others who joined forces. However, none of them counted the possibility of failure, and it was exactly what happened, as the marriage broadcast simply didn't happen and no news have reached Eddy's or anybody else's ears. Lee, Julia, and Leo were the only ones who were contactable, but they also didn't know a thing. Now, the only option left is waiting.

Eddy looks straight into Christie's eyes. He doesn't answer her. She speaks again, this time, while taking a seat in one of the two beige chairs in front of him, on the other side of the table. "I am worried about you. I can't help but feel it is something bad. Por favor, talk to me." The tone of her voice is a bit less serious now, as it makes room for preoccupation.

Eddy sighs silently. If there's anyone to be wrong in this situation, it would be him, yet here Christie is, feeling bad for him for things he should be blamed for. He doesn't want to sadden her, but he isn't a liar. He can't keep on hiding facts from her – _not that she wouldn't eventually find out, though_ , he thinks. "It's just that…" He looks away from her briefly. "I've taken a decision that I'm not sure how to feel about." He looks back to her.

She frowns slightly. "What do you mean?"

He doesn't answer instantly, as he tries to find the correct words to do so. "I had the noblest of intentions, but I had to involve myself with people I dislike very much."

Christie turns her gaze to random spot on the table, while raising her right eyebrow a bit – she's reflecting. "But if it was noble, how can it be bad?" She says, already looking to him again.

"Things didn't go as planned." He says. "I'm starting to feel uneasy, as if they were not worth it."

" _Hmm._ " She acknowledges, deep in thought. "It's like the saying: what counts is the intention."

Eddy smiles faintly to her, but it quickly fades away. "I wish it were that easy." He says with a rather sad tone.

"Why don't you just tell me?" She asks. There's no annoyance or any other poisonous attitude present on her tone, only the wish to understand the nature of what's happening to her closest friend. She wants to help him, but he doesn't let her.

"Because you'll be more than disappointed with it." He answers truthfully, and keeps on staring at her, expecting her reaction.

It is clear to Eddy that she was surprised with the answer, as her eyes so slightly widened, just as her eyebrows raised a bit. "How can you be so sure? You haven't even told me yet." She tries to reason.

"I know you." He says. "And I know what I did."

For about half a minute, they keep themselves silent, staring at each other. Suddenly, Christie breaks the silence, and this time, she actually sounds a bit annoyed. "Stop playing games with me, and simply spit it out."

Eddy knows he can't avoid this. It is indeed better if he 'simply spits it out', on her own words. He sighs, this time audibly. "Julia and her… _friend_ " He starts, uncertain how to refer to the mysterious woman who was supposedly the 'treasure' Kazuya had been looking for. "Came here for temporary shelter because I had promised to help a certain group of Tekken fighters." Christie's expression is of surprise, but she doesn't intervene with words. Eddy continues. "We all have a common interest to bring Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima to justice."

"I don't see how that's bad." She says. But then she frowns. "What about Jin Kazama?"

Eddy can't help but sigh again. "That's the point, Christie…" He says. "Jin is a part of the group."

The room goes dead silent. Even their breathing is soundless. Christie's face is unreadable, but since her body is stiff, it isn't hard to presume that a rush of sentiments and thoughts is going on inside of her. Eddy can already feel the blame aching from his guts.

"You… aligned yourself to… _him_?" She asks, half-shocked and half in disbelief.

Eddy simply nods silently, and can't help but look down, as if he was a kid who knew that he had done something wrong, and was ready to take the blame and be scolded.

A minute passed, or perhaps even more, but the scolding never came. Eddy looked up to see Christie with her eyes closed. Making no sound, her lips move as if she was speaking to herself, and her eyebrows clench slightly every now and then, like she's reasoning with herself. She's clearly in utter confusion, but still trying to come out on top with the best way possible to handle the situation.

After a long sigh, Christie slowly opens her eyes. "I can't believe you made yourself available to aid him in all of his interests." Her tone, combined with her eyes, show that she feels betrayed. "Even after everything wrong he has done, and everything right he should've done."

"When I said 'yes', it wasn't to him." Eddy says. "I still despise him, and he'll still pay, in the right time." He makes a brief pause. "It was Lars Alexandersson who asked for my help."

Christie is slightly confused by the answer. Eddy takes the cue from her expression, and explains further. "I received a call from him. He explained me everything. I was convinced enough to accept in collaborating." He says. "I still don't fully trust any of them. I still dislike Jin, and the Zaibatsu, and the Mishimas. But it was still something. It was worth enough for a try."

Christie doesn't say anything, and keeps her gaze turned to the floor. After about a minute, Eddy speaks again. "I will never forgive any of them for the things they've done."

"Stop it, Eddy." She says. Her tone is shaky – she is about to cry. It all has affected her too much.

Eddy raises the inner part of his eyebrows. He doesn't want to hurt her. "I'm sorry."

"Stop it." She says, now firmly. She looks up. Her eyes have some flame within, but it's hard to pinpoint the exact feeling they're emanating. "I need some time alone." It is all that she says before simply getting up and leaving the room.

The clash is over.

Eddy doesn't bother to go after her. He decides to respect her decision. _It's not like there's something I could do to change her mind, whatever is in it now_ , he thinks.

He turns his chair to the spot it had been before she first got in, and keeps on thinking about what could've lead the plans to failure, but now, his thoughts are mostly about Christie, the only person left in this world who he still cares for.

 **End of Chapter 9**

* * *

 **Author's notes:** +12,5k words this time! _Yay!_

Featuring new characters: Gigas, Prototype Jack, NANCY, and Combot! _(bot squad, yaass!)_

*ANSWERING*  
alwaysdoubted – I can't deny, even I am looking forward to write Jun's confrontations with Kazuya and with Jin! About Xiaoyu, well, I'm trying to portray a maturing process… She's not over Jin, of course not, but she's having a new point of view about things… You know, she's just growing up, that's all. And thank you for your kind words. S2

Reibun – Never mind, really. s2 Just let me know that you're alive! :P I wish you'd create an account, so at least we would be able to exchange some PMs every now and then. :)

Zmod 123 – Thank you! She will, on the proper time… Since I haven't started the next chapter, I don't know precisely yet – though it's close. ;)

Warnings – I know, right? I'll see what I can do about that when it comes the time to bring her to this story. And thanks for the compliment!

Mike dirt, Player shout, Guest machine, Tekken fuy, Sir Knight, Arming a, Polis, and Guest – Thank you for your reviews. :) About the Forest Demon, and about Michelle, they'll be explained in the future, along with all the other Tekken mysteries my imagination allows me to solve. :P And yaasss, when Kazumi shows up, it's going to be crazy! :P

Enemy of The Flash – _Hmm…_ I'm not gonna lie, I didn't even remember of Shin Kamiya. I guess it's because he's not canonical. Plus, I have never watched Tekken BV fully, so… :P I'll see what I can do, though if he gets into this story, I guess he wouldn't be _thaaat_ important on the plot, as I plan to focus on other things. Thanks for the suggestion, though, I'll keep that in mind.

giovanna21d – s2 (*deixando um coração simbólico aqui*)

 _Thank you for passing by!_


	10. Explanations

.

 **The Angel Within**

 **Chapter 10: Explanations**

 _[Day 14]_

 _Saturday, 14:42 UTC (23:42 in local time)  
Somewhere in Japan_

The cold raindrops bring sound to the lifeless urban streets. The pale moonlight barely reaches the city, as finding a chink in between the clouds is everything but easy. Besides, it'd be rather useless, as the only person wandering through the passages is too dark in the inside to be lightened by such pure illumination.

The young man's silent steps through the stone paths, with the shadows lurking around his figure. He allows himself to be embraced by them, as the darkness overcomes not only the outside, but also within.

Tonight, he laments his nonfulfillment once more. This time, the sky cries for the man, as the young one himself couldn't and wouldn't do such a thing – it's been a long time since he has been able to feel anything apart from hatred. Therefore, instead of bemoaning over his latest failure, the flame of the fury residing within him has never been so vast and vivid like it is now.

Not long time before the aforementioned situation of defeat, he had found a small tangle of purity he thought he had lost years ago. However, as the decisive day came and everything turned into a worthless effort, he regained the sorrow and the anger, with an immeasurable amount of bonus.

Whatever humanity he once had is gone. However, he is still not demonic – that is logically impossible, as he personally loathes the Devil. He's rather indifferent and absent of sentiments for everything, everyone – besides odium. The very few things and people he has held positive feelings for are too distant to keep him away from drowning into the abyss of his own misery, something that he has actually been looking forward to, as allowing the wrath run through his veins is the only thing he is still capable of doing, and also the only option he has left.

The torment coming from above and the turmoil residing within him are his only company.

He is sick and tired of his own failures to solve his problems. But, above all, sick and tired of the unfairness he lives in. He's has already gone through things a 22-year-old should've never – actually, someone of _any_ age should never.

Those thoughts and sentiments are ones that never leave him. Those are a part of the very few ones that managed to leave a permanent painful mark, which have long created roots and planted themselves on him.

He has just awakened, but he feels deep tiredness. That's because he hasn't waken up from a sleeping state, but actually from a spiritual state – he was trapped inside his own body, while something else had the hold over it.

After the crucial explosion of the fateful day, Jin's own personal Devil had the hold over him, through a period of time unknown to him. As far as he knows, it could've been a couple of hours, it could've been a couple of weeks.

 _Well, at least I'm still in Japan_ , he thinks as he sees an old piece of newspaper written in Japanese on the ground.

He wishes to know what happened after the fake marriage went wrong, and he wants to go back to the Mishima Zaibatsu, but right now he's too tired to keep on walking. Without as much as a second thought about it, he breaks through an abandoned establishment, dusty and stuffy in the inside. At least it has an intact rooftop, so he won't be affected by the heavy rain outside. With his body clothing – which is the marriage's black tuxedo – as the only cover from the cold, Jin sleeps on the floor, in the most comfortable position he has been able to find considering the circumstances. He closes his eyes and awaits for the haunted visions of the wicked dreams about to escape his subconscious and exhibit themselves to him through the whole night.

* * *

 _[Day 15]_

 _Sunday, 00:02 UTC (03:02 in local time)  
Somewhere unknown_

Nina slowly opens her eyelids. The absurd intensity of her headache almost makes her faint. She can tell the place she's currently in is not very well illuminated, but it still hurts her eyes. She finds herself unable to move – something around her hands and feet is preventing her from doing so. Nonetheless, she still tries to break free from them.

"It's useless." A voice says suddenly, startling Nina. She stops automatically. "Trust me, I've had enough time to try."

Nina slightly frowns, and tries to look up. Her eyes still hurt, but eventually, they adjust to the light of the place – which is indeed faint as she had presumed – and sees a person of dark caramel skin and pitch-black hair. It is Robyn. The woman is with the same clothes she was wearing during the fake marriage – though extremely dirty and torn – and there are enormous iron chains around her wrists and ankles, coming from supports on the wall behind her.

"What is this place?" Nina asks. Her voice tone reflects her dizziness.

"Some sort of chamber." Robyn answers. "But whoever owns it hasn't bothered to show up yet."

Nina sighs. "How great." After a pause, she makes another question. "Do you have any clues of who it could be?"

"I was hoping you'd know."

Nina slightly frowns again. This time, Robyn is the one who sighs. "I got hit in the head, but coming from behind. I have no idea of who it was." The black woman says.

Nina sort of nods, as her mind is already far away, trying to recall something. It's hard to focus, but soon enough realization comes upon her. She lets out a frustrated breath leave her mouth. "The last thing I remember was fighting Anna."

"So it is her." Robyn concludes.

"She didn't hit me in the head." It is Robyn's turn to frown. Nina continues. "It was something else, coming from above."

Robyn ponders for a second. "That doesn't really exclude the possibility of her being our kidnapper."

"Though nothing makes it impossible for her to be another captive."

"Yeah, exactly." Robyn says, frustrated, as they're not able to reach an answer. "If she's another prisoner, I wonder why she's not here, though."

Nina raises her eyebrow to show that the question is plausible. "Our only option is to wait, then." The blonde woman says.

"Not that I hadn't already been doing it."

…

After an unknown amount of time has passed, a door on the wall by Nina's left and Robyn's right is opened to reveal a tall man of slightly tanned skin and jet-black hair. His eyebrows are ginormous, and situated on a permanent scowl. One of his eyes is brown, and the other is red. He is wearing a fully grey suit over a white button shirt, with black shoes.

"How great." Robyn mumbles. "Someone to join the party."

Nina would never admit it, but she actually rather enjoys Robyn's ironic remarks – the woman is quite sassy-mouthed.

The man seems to narrow his eyes very slightly towards the black woman, but they go to their normal position shortly afterwards. "I don't think an introduction is needed." He says, his deep voice resonating through the room.

"It's been a long time, Kazuya." Nina says, sounding uninterested.

He turns to the assassin. "Indeed."

 _He definitely looks scarier than I remember_. "You haven't changed a bit."

His right eyebrow slightly tilts upwards with her remark. He takes some steps to her direction. "You, on the other hand, has." He says, facing her directly. "Marriage had never been one of your interests." He then turns on his heels and walks back to the center of the room. With his back still facing Nina, he finishes. "Or at least that's what most would presume."

Nina says nothing. There's nothing to be said.

"Anyhow, I am not here to discuss those type of matters." He says. "You and your allies have stolen something that belongs to me. All I wish to know is where it is."

Both women silently eye each other. They know what he means, but they truly have _no_ idea of where it is, or even _what_ it is.

"Out of all the questions you can make to us, you chose to ask the only thing we don't know?" Robyn says on her usual sarcastic manner.

Kazuya scoffs. "How come you don't know, if that's the case?"

"I guess the rest of our allies were simply busy trying to hide it." Robyn answers. "It seems it worked, as we have no idea of where it is."

Kazuya narrows his eyes towards the black woman, then turns to the blonde one. Before he's able to speak, Nina does. "Don't ask me. I don't know."

"You both know very well that I don't believe you." He says. "Simply spit it out and none of you will suffer the consequences."

"We don't even know _what_ it is." Robyn says. "The only information that reached us was that it had successfully been stolen. There you go. Any other questions?"

Kazuya grabs Robyn's neck with his right hand. "I don't like your tone." Somehow, his voice sounds even more sinister than in his normal tone. "And I don't like your answers. You better tell me where it is."

Robyn says nothing, neither tries to shake his grip away. She simply stares at him stoically – she's telling the truth.

"Why don't you refresh my mind and tell me your name?" Kazuya asks.

"I thought there was no need of introductions." She says defiantly, even though her voice is weak.

In the quickest fashion possible, he releases his grip and punches her in the face. He then grabs her chin to make her look to him again. The same defiance of before is on her eyes. "Tell me. Now."

"You could be asking your own son and he wouldn't be able to answer you."

"Is that so?" Kazuya asks, not amused. Robyn doesn't answer. He punches her again, in the same left cheek of hers, and then forces her to face him again. "Wrong answer."

"I don't know the right answer." She says.

"Yes, you do." He says and punches her again. At this point, a stubborn drip of blood comes from the corner of her mouth.

"No, I don't." She says.

"I don't like liars."

"I'm not lying." Robyn says, somewhat sounding almost as if she's feeling offended by his remark.

Nina knows that this is the opportunity to interfere. "Julia was unreachable afterwards." The blonde one says calmly. She knows Julia's name will get his interest.

It indeed works, and it makes Kazuya let go of Robyn's chin. Turning to Nina's direction, he takes a few steps further until he's in the center of the room again.

Nina takes that as a sign to continue. "And she hasn't tried to reach us either."

"She must have taken it to somewhere previously decided." He insists.

"There wasn't a chosen place." Nina answers. "It didn't matter where she took it, as long as it was out of your reach."

"What a dysfunctional plan." Kazuya remarks, ironically.

"Dysfunctional?" Robyn suddenly says. "It worked very well, I mean, you don't have it with you now, do you?" She asks rhetorically, in the same ironic tone of his.

Already displeased enough with her, he strikes her again, this time even harder, before going back to his position in the center of the room. He controls himself not to smirk when he hears the woman coughing twice behind him.

Nina simply nods a 'no' with her head. She hates going through questionings when she has no advantage over the abductor. On those situations when something isn't known, the best option is always to be truthful – if the criminal finds out it had been a lie, it'll only make things worse. Unless if you were a good liar, but such effort just wasn't worth it with Kazuya. She was very well-aware of his methods.

He starts circling the room. "Do you have any of clue of Jin Kazama's whereabouts?" He changes the subject. He simply earns Nina's confused frown as an answer. "Don't tell me you have no idea of where he is hiding."

"I didn't even know he was hiding." Nina says blankly.

 _Plausible enough_ , he thinks _. But that's still not an excuse_. "Now you do." He says. "Where is he?"

"He may be a bitch, but he's no fool." Robyn suddenly says. "Do you really think he would tell us?"

Kazuya decides not to punch her this time just because of her insult towards Jin. "Any suggestions?" He asks, still facing Nina.

"He could be anywhere." She says, shrugging.

Kazuya keeps himself silent. _They're not being useful_ , he curses on his mind. _That woman wasn't far from accurate when she said Jin is no fool – he has managed to keep all vital information to himself. Though I hate him, and though I hate to admit it, he's quite the calculist._ The Mishima continues his train of thought. _But they're not going to escape that easily. They are professional liars, and if they won't spit things out in the easy way, it shall be done in the hard way. To me it makes no difference._

"We don't know anybody's whereabouts at this point." Robyn breaks the silence. "We don't even know where _we_ are, for that matter."

"It doesn't make any difference for you to know." He says abruptly. "As you're not going to leave." With that said, Kazuya exits the room, and the ladies are once again by themselves in the faint-lightened room.

"The party has barely started and he's already leaving." Robyn says, with a little smirk on the bloody corner of her lip.

"You're crazy."

* * *

 _[Day 15]_

 _Sunday, 04:40 UTC (05:40 in local time)  
Rome, Italy_

Walking through the undergrounds, carrying her single bag, Jun finally spots the door she has been told about. Knocking twice on it, as she has been advised, she waits for it to be opened. She hears steps, and she knows the person on the other side is inspecting her through the peephole. After a good while, the sound of many door locks being unlocked reach her eyes, and the old-looking and dirty metal door is opened to reveal a tall man of white skin, blue eyes, and black shoulder-length hair. His neat white suit contrasts drastically with the environment surrounding them.

Jun keeps her gaze on his eyes, while he analyses her from head to toe. She's wearing a black jumpsuit with red crows and a white scarf around her shoulders. "Are you Claudio Serafino?" She asks, expecting that the mention of the name make him realize she's the one.

After a second of silence, he answers. "Sì. Follow me."

After what feels like forever through a maze of narrow stone passages of faint illumination, they go down in a staircase and reach a place that looks like some sort of living room, though the decoration indicates that it has some sort of religious connotation.

"Take a seat." He says, while sitting on the navy blue velvet couch himself. Jun sits in front of him, on another couch of the same color and material.

Before any of them is able to start a conversation, Angel shows up behind Claudio, and walks towards the center of the room until she's in between them. Her clothes, as usual, are white and resemble Ancient Greek fashion. "I'm glad you both are finally able to meet." The heavenly spirit says, her golden hair glowing in contrast with her pale skin. "Claudio, my host, this is the person I've told you about." The blonde-haired 'woman' looks to Jun as a cue for her to introduce herself.

"My name is Jun Kazama."

Claudio widens his eyes. " _Kazama?_ " He asks surprised. From the little Angel told him about her, and also from her looks, voice tone and aura, it is just impossible for him to understand how someone as serene as her can be related to _that guy who made World War III_.

"Yes." Jun answers. "Angel mentioned that you're a part of a clan. Is this where you reunite?" She asks out of innocent curiosity, not really paying mind to his reaction.

"Yes, it is." Claudio answers, still a bit startled. "We only reunite at night, that's why the place is empty." He answer, half-rushed and half-interested. After a short pause, he talks again. "How come you're a Kazama? I don't think I've ever heard of one besides Jin." He frowns. "Wait a minute…"

Jun simply smiles to him. Angel clarifies the situation. "She is Jin's mother."

Claudio's face shows utmost surprise. " _How… come?_ " He shakes his head slightly, as his expression turns to one of disbelief. "Care to explain?" He looks at Angel.

Jun answers instead. "I had been presumed dead, I guess you can put it in such words. But I had just been… dormant."

"Dormant? As in a coma?"

"Not exactly…" Jun answers vaguely and drifts away to her own thoughts.

Angel starts to explain it. "She was attacked by an entity that ended up possessing her."

Before Claudio can make a question, Jun suddenly goes back to the conversation and continues. "It was in an unfortunate moment of weakness. I never willingly accepted it inside of me, so it could only have the hold over me while keeping me dormant."

"I guess that's because you're a psychic, right?" Claudio asks. "Angel mentioned it." He adds. "Allowing you to be conscious would lead it to its defeat."

"Somewhere close to that." Jun says and smiles at his correct assumption, though in a bit shy manner because he said it as if she's a great hero or something along those lines – to which she personally disagrees.

"But what was it?"

Jun's expression goes from serene and relaxed to more closed and serious as she tries to find the best words to explain it. "The entity itself is called Forest Demon, but I confronted Toshin." She says. "Most people call it Ogre. It used to be worshiped by the Aztecs as the God of Fighting a long time ago, but it is actually a living alien weapon of sorts." She explains.

"I've heard of it. It attacked many fighters around the world, right? Didn't Jin defeat it?" Claudio says.

"Yes, he did. He had believed I had been killed by it." Jun answers his second question. As Claudio doesn't ask anything, she continues. "It stayed dormant for centuries. It only awakens when triggered by its key or by a major danger to its own existence. It never cared about other creatures gathering powers, as long as it didn't get affected."

"What awakened it?" Claudio makes an interjection.

"The key."

The Italian man frowns. "That doesn't really make sense." He says, somewhat reluctant, and makes a brief pause to organize his thoughts and formulate his speech. "It started attacking martial artists around the world almost randomly, as from what I remember. And those fighters were already known. What kind of change happened for the creature to suddenly want them dead?"

"That's the point, actually." Jun says. "They weren't killed by Toshin. They were killed by Heihachi Mishima."

Claudio is so confused at this point that he doesn't even bother to ask, he simply clenches his eyebrows further and waits for Jun to continue.

"Heihachi had them killed and attributed the murders to Toshin." She says. "And considering the power he held as the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, it was not even a bit hard for him to manipulate the media." She adds, with the mention of the financial empire sending a discreet shiver through her spine – the name of the corporation on her mouth tastes bitter, reviving scenes long buried in the past.

"It had been a while that he had been searching for a power as evil and as great as his son's." She goes back to the main explanation. "After more than ten years of research, he found out about the Aztec tales of the God of Fighting, which lead him to Toshin."

"He found out the key was still existent. It was a pendant, owned by a Native American woman named Michelle Chang, who coincidentally had already taken part in the first and second Tekken tournaments." She continues.

Realization graces Claudio's features. "She had the key and knew what it was for. When she saw the supposedly 'Ogre attacks' and how Heihachi was playing out the hero who would defeat the creature, she sought out his help to understand the nature of the key. Then he stole it."

Jun smiles and nods. "Yes, exactly." She answers. "He then traveled to México and used the pendant, but he underestimated Toshin and it escaped. The creature knew, however, that Heihachi had enough power to destroy it, so it sought survival."

"And that's why it went after you."

"Yes." Angel answers instead of Jun. "The Forest Demon wanted a new host, someone of stronger spiritual abilities. It passed down most of its essence to Jun, and maintained only a little inside the body of Toshin as to use it as a decoy."

Jun sighs sadly and silently. Claudio thinks silently. Angel observes them silently.

After a considerable amount of… _silence_ , Claudio speaks again. "How have you been freed of it?" Jun simply takes hold of the pendant hidden by her white scarf, extending it to show it him. "So that is the key?" He asks, and Jun nods as a positive answer. Claudio then frowns suddenly. "Didn't it belong to that woman you mentioned?"

"Michelle Chang? Yes, it did. Technically, it still does." Claudio makes a face that shows he's inclined to hear the explanation. "It's just that I don't know if she's still alive or not." She answers to his silent question.

"What happened to her?"

"Heihachi thought she could have valuable information to be used in the future, so he put her in cryogenic sleep in a secret Mishima Zaibatsu facility in Arizona, United States, not too far away from where she used to live."

"The building had been constructed many years ago. On a day of heavy rain, the old structure unexpectedly caved and what remained of it was taken away by the flow of a nearby river, including the pendant. Heihachi had no use for it anymore, as around that time, Toshin had already been killed and he had already found out he could only use its DNA if he had the Devil gene."

Claudio scoffs. "Basically, he went searching to an alternative to the Devil gene, and when he finally found one, he found out he needed the Devil gene to make it work. How ironic." After a brief moment of silence, Claudio goes back to the topic about the Native American woman. "And she disappeared afterwards, I presume."

"Exactly." Jun answers with a sad tone. Claudio nods silently in understanding.

Angel puts her right hand on Jun's left shoulder. The heavenly entity knows that Jun knew Michelle in person. Jun nods once, thankful for Angel's action of consolation. Seeing none of it, as he had been concentrated in his own thoughts, Claudio raises his head and makes another question. "Well, do you know what has happened to the world in the years that followed?"

She wears a sad expression. "Angel has informed me."

Claudio doesn't say a word. Though he personally abominates the Mishimas, he knows that she is a part of the family somehow – and he's not even sure if he wants to know how, besides the fact that it would mean dealing with her personal matters. Since her first step inside, he could sense the good will she exhaled, spiritually speaking. _She is not like them_.

After another considerable moment of silence, Claudio speaks up. "You must be tired. Let me show you where you're staying." He says and stands up. Angel vanishes, and some sort of fog replaces where her figure had been. "Make yourself at home."

Jun smiles thankfully and then follows him. She is indeed tired. She had a hard time leaving Germany to come to Italy. She never came to meet Julia's ally named Leo. Thanks to Angel's assistance, the flight she had been put in had to make an 'unexpected' stop in Rome. There, Jun left the plane and followed Angel's instructions to meet Claudio.

The journey, however, is only starting.

* * *

 _[Day 15]_

 _Sunday, 03:55 UTC (04:55 in local time)  
Paris, France_

Two people are sitting in the two reddish couches in a small living room of a mostly wooden simplistic apartment in the Parisian suburbs. The room is faintly illuminated by yellowish table lamps, creating interesting shadows around the lose parts of the outer layers of the beige walls, which shyly reveal a white-painted background hidden by the dust. There's almost no furniture in there, but when there is, it is always something wooden, and looking really old. Two people occupy the room, which has yet to feel the Sunday sunlight.

"Do you know who is she?" A blonde teenager of accented English asks to the man in front of her, referring to the black-haired woman sleeping in one of the safe house's bedrooms.

"She's exactly who she said she is." The brown-haired man answers. He also has a foreign accent present in his English language speech, but it sounds greatly different from the female person sitting in a simplistic couch in front of him. "I had heard and read about Eliza through the palaces, but I didn't know much, neither had seen her."

"She mentioned something about her blood. Do you know anything about that, Shaheen?"

"I just know they were indeed experimenting with it." Shaheen answers. "But I don't know what they were doing with it."

Silence falls upon them, as both think of what it could be. Suddenly, the man of Saudi Arabian origin breaks the silence, changing the subject. "Anyway, it's good to have you here, Lili. Someone who actually speaks French will be of good help."

The Monegasque girl smiles. "Thanks for having me here." She says. "I won't deny, I was still dubious to call you, but I didn't know other person to help me with such a matter."

"I hope that now you don't have any doubts that I'm trustful." He says and smiles.

"Not at all." She says, and smiles back. "But you still haven't told me why you're hiding here in France." Lili has an idea of what it might me, but only the man himself can tell her what it is.

He hesitates for a millisecond. Those are personal matters. The truth is he had become aware of Heihachi Mishima's location, and had been organizing a small troop to go after him. His country's leader, however, found out about it and wasn't very pleased to know that his most trustable man was plotting against an ally. Shaheen realized that there was no point, nor the need to avoid the question, although he would never open up so much about himself. He has always very discreet man, and that's one of the traits that made him go so far in his professional career. "I personally disagreed with certain measures and decided to leave."

Lili nods in understanding. It made sense that someone who seemed as important as him would have to physically leave in order to leave the job. "So, you're on your own now?" Shaheen simply nods a positive answer.

Something crosses the man's mind as he remembers that out the men who conspired with him, survivors left for Sweden for a supposed rebellion. Lili not only is the daughter of an important businessman, but she has also participated in Tekken tournaments before. She should know something about that rebellion.

"Have you heard anything regarding rebellions?" He asks cautiously. There's not really a way to indirect ask it, so he goes for the straight-forward approach.

"There's always the talk, but never the action." She says and laughs lightly. "Why? Have you suddenly decided to be a revolutionary? It doesn't really sound like something you would do." She cracks a joke.

He decides to play along. "It's not like I have much of an option now." He smiles a little.

"I don't know anything, but I'll let you know if I find out something." She says sincerely, and he nods once.

Lili is not naïve nor stupid. Men like that don't waste their time with small talk. There's something specific he wants to know about, but he won't say what it is as not to compromise himself. It doesn't matter how much you trust or sympathize with someone, you can never open up fully – and that's the ugly reality of the world. She doesn't judge him for so, as she is the same. You always only entrust to people the little enough for you to get what you want.

She will definitely try to find out anything about possible rebellions. But not him, but rather for herself. She's aware that's a seed he wanted to plant on her, regardless of ever telling him or not about information, but she doesn't care. She might as well water the seed and see what plant will grow out of it. Only then she'll decide whether to keep on caring for it or simply toss it away.

* * *

 _[Day 15]_

 _Sunday, 02:20 UTC (04:20 in local time)  
Somewhere in the Egyptian Sahara Desert_

Away from the big modern cities, in the heart of the Egyptian Sahara, a secret underground chamber is covered by the abundant sandy cliffs. The millennial sanctuary has been hidden from the world ever since its genesis, with only one person of each generation being aware of its exact location – the place's guardian itself.

Named the Sacred Temple of Knowledge, its sole purpose is to gather all information known to humanity. An ancient pharaoh, whose sole purpose was to keep the culture of their people out of reach from any kinds of disasters – either natural ones or wars – confidentially created it to transcend the boundaries of their own people and serve as a bethel to all information imaginable.

For that, he selected some of the greatest minds of his people, a small number of commoners of his utmost trust, to be in charge of the responsibility. Each one of those people had deep understanding of different areas of knowledge – medicine, arts, engineering, and religion. They would keep on living normally in the context of society, watching everything from behind the shadows, and teach their abilities to their offspring, and also pass all their knowledge to the oracle.

The oracle is the priest endued of biggest responsibility. He was some sort of leader of the group, and he was the only person who would not only know of the seclude place's existence, but also its exact location. The prophet's obligation was to save all the information there, besides protecting those chambers.

As the years passed, many leaders have come and gone, many empires have risen and fallen, many ideologies have emerged and then vanished, but the guardians of knowledge never perished, and eventually evolved to a tribe. Though they still live in Cairo, which to this day is still Egypt's main city, they are also still unrelated to all the cultures that eventually crossed paths with the country, and even geographically are still distant from the urban centers.

At the same time, their own habits and traditions evolved to a bigger realm, logically and spiritually speaking, as each of their generations would let go each time more of conservative views and now have achieved what they consider ' _the true Ma'at_ '. Ma'at was the Ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. However, they were supposed to find an _absolute_ concept of truth and balance, _not_ an _Egyptian_ one. For that, it took them literally ages.

Nevertheless, their goal was achieved, and all imaginable and unimaginable knowledge has been gathered inside the ginormous underground temple, to the most obvious things to the biggest secrets. Even its secrets have secrets. A person could literally spend an entire life inside the chambers and would still not be able to read everything – actually, that person would barely be able to read the books of a single shelf.

Despite that, there's a woman who's definitely inclined to do so. As one could presume, if the person is inside the temple, it means that individual is the tribe's guru. In the case of this prophet, however, she _needs_ to know everything she can, because otherwise could mean the end of mankind.

According to the tribe's tradition, everybody is supposed to have a single name, which can literally have any meaning and origin, and can be in any known language, as far as it respects the Ma'at – which basically means it can't be foolish or allude the evil. This particular lady is called Zafina, meaning "victorious".

 _I really wish my name meaning would come true and I'd win the battle against these endless books_ , she thinks frustrated. It's been literally days that she has pretty much sort of self-exiled herself inside the temple, looking for information that could help her understand the prophecy of the evil stars, but so far the effort has proved to be a failure. She has not been eating properly, using almost nothing of the food resources she has brought with her, and sleeps only a couple of hours each day – she can't afford to waste precious time.

The place is very similar to a library – it has some tables in the center, surrounded by endless shelves full of books. Luckily enough, through the ages, all information that had been carved in stones or other kinds of materials that could easily deteriorate were fully rewritten in paper. Another thing that contributes to the preservation is the use of technology – the place has a very complex ventilation and refrigeration system, maintaining the documents intact from the effects of extreme heat.

Unluckily, however, the greatest part of the archives have yet to be catalogued, a process which will take years and years to complete. That makes it almost impossible for Zafina to find what she's specifically looking for.

Opening some space and putting a few books on the floor, she sits on the table itself, as other muniments have already occupied all the chairs. She stares at the ground with her head hanging low, feeling somewhat hopeless. She slightly dangles her feet, which are embraced by black sandals with a spider design, as she allows herself to get distracted by the sound of her golden anklet bracelets for a second, with the loosen white fabric of her pants accompanying the movement.

She then raises her head to re-read the writing on the center wall, a tale which originated in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, called "The moaning of the Bedouin".

 _Those who destroy the lie promote Ma'at;  
those who promote the good will erase the evil.  
As fullness casts out appetite,  
as clothes cover the nude and  
as heaven clears up after a storm._

Breathing deeply, Zafina gets up and touches the wall in which it is written, as if trying to absorb all the determination she can from the saying. With closed eyes, her right hand travels down the dusty wall, until her fingers collides with an irregular part. It makes a weird sound, and she instantly opens her eyes. Taking a good look at it, she realizes she has pressed some sort of button.

Looking around, she finds no changes in the room. Perhaps it used to have a function, but the engines aged too much, she concludes. She starts walking back to the central table, but on her third step, she almost trips as the pavement has a lower level that simply didn't exist. She looks to her feet, and her eyes stop at an open space on the floor, which is simply a small square-shaped hole with a book inside.

Frowning, intrigued, she crouches and grabs it, then putting in on the table and taking a seat. Firstly, she analyzes the cover. Unlike the very old looking brownish books she had been reading, this one has a completely golden outside, and the pages seem to be very white and clean. There's no title written on it, and wanting to waste no more time and also wishing to kill her curiosity, she gently opens it and starts reading the first page.

After only the first paragraph, her eyes widen greatly. _This is it. This… is what I had been looking for._

* * *

 _[Day 16]_

 _Monday, 10:31 UTC (06:31 in local time)  
Somewhere hidden_

"Hello? Raven?" A female voice says.

Raven's eyebrows slightly raise when he hears the other side of the phone line. He straightens his posture on the hospital bed. "Julia?"

"Yes, it's me." She answers. "I had a hard time settling down, and when I did, the Saturday incident had already happened. You all had been unreachable."

"What are your conditions? Where are you?" He asks without hesitation. If he wasn't a ninja, Julia might have believed it sounded like concern.

"I'm fine." She says. "I'm just calling to say Steve has gone missing. I felt like you had to know, as he was a fellow ally. But that's all I have to say, as the actual alliance is not needed anymore. The plan failed."

Raven understands what she means. "Thank you."

"Save the 'thank you'. I'm just doing what I have to do." She says. "I have to go now. Good luck to you, and whoever else who has survived. Goodbye." She hangs up before Raven can say anything else.

Raven puts the telephone away. Tired of waiting for the doctor to finally discharge him, he gets up and exits the room. While walking through the white corridors of the medical area of the Agency, he ends up being spotted by the doctor responsible for him. Before the blue-haired woman of caramel eyes can say anything, Raven speaks up. "I am giving myself discharge."

He then gets inside an elevator, and goes to a lower floor in the undergrounds. There, the corridors are grey instead of white, and he crosses a maze of corridors until he reaches his personal room, which is a mix of an office and a bedroom.

He takes the telephone from the black table and calls his superiors. Well, technically, the superiors of his superiors, as Master Raven – a.k.a. Robyn, the agent responsible for Raven's assignments, has been missing.

"This is Raven. Steve Fox has gone missing. Asking permission to take charge."

"Permission denied." An artificially distorted voice answers. "The Agency is too vulnerable now. We must sleep again."

"I insist." Raven says. "He went missing during a mission of our responsibility."

"Negative. He went missing during a mission of _your_ responsibility." The voice says.

"Allow me to fix it."

The voice doesn't answer instantly this time. After a couple seconds, it speaks. "We will let Interpol become aware of it, and personally ask for Officer Wulong to be encharged of the mission, but the Agency is not going to get involved on that."

"Understood." Raven accepts it, as it is better than nothing. "Any progress on locating Master Raven and Ms. Nina Williams?"

"Negative." The voice answers. "Over and out." They hang up, probably on purpose, as for him not ask anything else.

Raven puts the telephone back on its place. _I have no time to be frustrated by this_ , he thinks as he starts opening some folders full of documents, _I had already expected it_.

After some good minutes of cleaning up, his eyes meet the daily newspaper. The front page reads as ' _Heihachi Mishima reclaims the Zaibatsu throne_ '.

Raven throws it in the trashcan angrily and starts to chase some useful work to do.

* * *

 _[Day 17]_

 _Tuesday, 08:57 UTC (11:57 in local time)  
Somewhere in Russia_

Dragunov puts a file, filled with many papers, on his superior's desk – without saying a word, as always. The older officer raises his gaze to meet Dragunov's, and then his attention is shifted to the documents. He starts to read them, and after a minute, he suddenly brings his fist down on the table in both frustration and anger, letting an annoyed growl escape his mouth. "Again no results! How come?" He says in Russian.

Dragunov doesn't say anything, as always. His boss continues the rant. "That stupid British boy is being a waste of resources!" He drops the papers, and uses his right hand to scratch his forehead as he sighs, calming down. "What's the point of having the Devil gene if we can't use it?"

"That's probably why Heihachi Mishima discarded him." Dragunov says, in a rare showcase of his voice.

At first, it slightly startles the higher officer, but shortly after the man realizes his soldier only speaks when necessary – and this is one of those moments. Acknowledging Dragunov's point, he speaks. "If that's the case, I doubt he would still be alive." He makes a short pause. "There's more to that story than what we know." Dragunov nods silently in agreement. "Have you found any other information about Fox in the Zaibatsu's databases?" Dragunov makes a 'no' with his head, which leads the higher officer to curse under his breath.

After a minute of silence, the boss frowns. "Could someone else have stolen it already?" He asks. "Out of the few organizations aware of the Devil gene, we are definitely not the only ones who want to possess that knowledge."

Dragunov raises an eyebrow – it's plausible. "But still, there are literally very few organizations aware of it." The higher officer continues. "Besides the Zaibatsu itself, we know it, and so do our ally G Corporation… after all, it's CEO has it." He looks up in thought, then resumes his discussion. "Our Chinese allies are unaware of it. There's also that ghost organization nobody really knows about, but if they had it, they would have taken action a long time ago."

"Interpol?" Dragunov suggests.

The boss brings his fist down on the table again. "Stupid Interpol! I should've thought of that before!"

Dragunov keeps himself silent, waiting for orders. Getting the cue of his soldier's silence, the man gives his commands. "Transfer Steve Fox to a common cell, out of the laboratories, and dismiss Doctor Abel." He says. "Later today, come to my room again with another two soldiers of your choice, to plan a mission for you three to track Lei Wulong down." He concludes. "This is all."

Dragunov bows, and leaves the room, going directly to the iron-made elevator. Pressing a few buttons, after about 2 or 3 minutes, he reaches one of the most underground levels of the secret military facility, in which Doctor Abel's laboratories are situated.

He enters the place, but there are no people inside. There's no sign of Steve Fox, Doctor Abel, or any of the ten soldiers specially selected to be here, as nobody else was supposed to know of this place.

The single second Dragunov took to think if he should inspect the place first or immediately return to his superior's room to warn him of the matter was enough for someone to put a knife close to his throat. As the person is behind him, he obviously can't see who it is. None of the people say anything – the individual behind simply presses a piece of cloth to Dragunov's nose and mouth. Though the Russian soldier does his best to resist, he knows that there's nothing he can do. Soon enough, he goes unconscious, but before his body falls to the ground, the intruder takes hold of it and drags it to a series of sewers – the only secret passage leading to the laboratories.

Entering there himself as well, the man drags Dragunov's body through the passages – just as he did to all of the other bodies – until it leads him to the central part of the plumbing, which is a large square-shaped area with many options of ways to go, and all the unconscious bodies of those who were in the laboratory. For now, however, he needs to wait someone else before taking a turn and leaving the place as fast as possible.

 **…**

Lei's type wasn't really of a spy, but when he acted as one, he was the best – or at least that's what he liked to think. Getting infiltrated in the Russian Army wasn't as hard as he thought he would – though that didn't make it easy. Being backed by the Agency was also very convenient for the whole mission. Just as Interpol, their goals included stopping the war, and most of times to ensure peace meant to protect former Tekken fighters.

The Hong Kong man is currently walking through the corridors of the military facility, after having escorted Steve Fox out of the main building through the plumbing, while also hiding the bodies of the men he forced into unconsciousness to save the British boxer. Either passed out or dead, those soldiers won't be bothering anytime soon.

Wulong's objective now is to find the secret part of the facility. _How great: a secret part of a secret facility_ , Lei thinks. The thing is that there is a part of the building being used by G Corporation, to which only three people were originally aware of: the president of Russia, Kazuya Mishima himself, and Anna Williams. For whatever reason, Anna gave the information to Interpol's highest offices. She didn't reveal her identity, but it was clear to Lei that it had been written by her – something about the choice of words perhaps, as it was computer-typed. That means she probably did it that way so only he would realize it.

As for Interpol, t first, they were highly suspicious, of course; but desperate situations call for desperate measures. Besides, the specific mentioning of Nina Williams and Raven's master, Robyn, were more than a mere coincidence.

 _This is definitely going to take a while_ , he thinks as he analyzes his surroundings.

 **…**

Nina wakes up suddenly. She hadn't even realized she had been sleeping, if that's even logically possible. It is no surprise, however, as being a hostage is not entertaining enough to maintain a person awake for too long periods of time.

The blonde assassin casually stares into nothing, but then suddenly frowns upon realizing Robyn isn't the room. There is a puddle of blood on the floor where the black woman had been, and a trail of red up until the door.

Before she can make any sense out of it, the door opens with no sound. The movement, however, is enough to get Nina's attention. A brown-haired woman hurriedly, yet silently, gets inside the room and walks towards Nina, who's already dumbfounded at this point – she knows who it is. One would appreciate how the woman is so quiet while walking in high heels, but the blonde assassin knows that it is one of the woman's many skills.

"No questions. Just follow me." She says almost inaudibly. The pale-skinned woman then takes a key from the ginormous red bun on her back – a part of her floral dress – and frees Nina from the chains.

Nina follows her without giving much of a second thought. _Wherever she's taking me, it's still better than going insane while trapped in this room_.

 **...**

After long minutes of walking, Nina is lead to the plumbing, most specifically to a place where many unconscious bodies lay on the ground – two of them easily recognizable: Sergei Dragunov and Steve Fox.

"Stay here." The red-dressed woman says hurriedly, turning around.

"Thanks." Nina forces herself to mumble – even though she hates herself for so – before collapsing on the ground. Her limbs were already weak because it had been ages since the last she used them, but now after suddenly putting her body to full activity again, they're simply numb – it's too much for the organism. The lack of food and water added to her terrible sleep schedule also contributed to that.

After a short pause, comes the answer. "Don't thank me just yet. I still plan on kicking your ass." Anna says timidly, and somewhat reluctantly. Her voice was filled with her characteristic tone of sarcasm. That is the last sound she makes before vanishing into the darkness, leaving Nina to her own confused thoughts.

 **…**

Soldiers are moving in a hurry all over the place – they've already realized something wrong is going on. _I need to be faster_ , Anna thinks. _Where's Lei?_

Suddenly, a soldier hits her shoulder while trying to cross the corridor. She turned to give him a death-stare, but her face went blank once she realized it was the Hong Kong man she had been looking for, under black heavy clothes, trying to get her attention without raising anybody else's suspicions.

"I can't find her." He said with his lips, but not making any sound; 'her' refers to Robyn. Anna simply made a movement with her eyes as an answer, indicating that he should follow her.

If the place wasn't secret, one could be sure that a picture of it would appear in the dictionary as the definition of the word "maze". The fact that it contained innumerous passages and floors was nothing new, while the fact that it was faintly illuminated and made mostly of black-colored metallic materials didn't help much on making the corridors differentiable.

About the corridors, many would simply lead to dead-ends, while others would be extremely long and full of doors leading to more corridors. Many of them also had fake walls, leading to secret corridors; and then the secret corridors would have more hidden passages to more corridors. Sometimes they'd also lead to rooms, but most times, it would be simply an empty room. There were also countless stairs, of course, increasing the number of possibilities of ways to go. Sometimes, one could even find primitive elevators.

Lei silently followed Anna through many minutes, walking like a soldier, pretending to be a security guard of sorts. He analyzed her, almost clinically, as she moved through the maze without hesitation, something quite surprising. But Wulong could see how every turn she was taking was meticulously calculated, with her crystal blue eyes darting the place as if life depended on it – and, somehow, it technically did. The Hong Kong man could see how her lips would occasionally contract slightly while she was reflecting on which turn to take next, and how her fringe would gently move every time she clenched her eyebrows in thought.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a door. From the room inside, Lei could only make out some muffled, undistinguishable random noises. Anna turned to him and nodded, a sign for him to stay outside – and so he did, as he had to play the 'security guard' act.

He doesn't know how long Anna spent inside there; all he knows is that it felt like forever. Once she left the room, she simply started walking through the maze again. Wulong promptly followed her, though a bit confused as to what she did inside there.

Other long minutes passed, until they were in the plumbing again. Only there Anna broke the silence, as she deemed it the safest place to do so. "You won't be able to take her today." Lei frowned, and before he could say something, she continued. "Let's just say that, for now, it's actually safer for her to stay here."

He was going to talk, but was interrupted again. "You have to leave." Anna said firmly. "When the opportunity comes, I will do something about it."

"Why are you helping?" A deep female voice came from the darkness, speaking in a slightly venomous tone – Nina.

"Because I feel like it." She answered unbothered before leaving. Her answer left things just as unanswered.

* * *

 _[Day 18]_

 _Wednesday, 08:57 UTC (17:57 in local time)  
Kyoto, Japan_

"I'm so sorry." A man says.

The other, also a man, though much older, abruptly drops the papers he had been dealing with and turns to the younger one. "I can't believe you're actually blaming yourself, Lars."

A slightly surprised expression comes to the Swedish man's face, but he says nothing. "Things like that are _supposed_ to happen, whether we like it or not." He continues. "In concept, Alisa is my daughter, but physically she's a combat machine."

"I know, Bosconovitch." Lars says in a tone that somewhat indicates defeat, with his head hanging slightly low. "But still. I should've been there for her."

Doctor B laughs in good mood. "But you were. In the very same explosion." He says. "Stop blaming yourself for things out of your control. You're a soldier, aren't you? Those things happen all the time."

"Yes, but they shouldn't."

"So you should work for the conflicts not to happen at all." Doctor B says. "Anyway, I had already been working on a new body for her, it won't be a big deal. You managed to save her main system after the explosion, that's great! You've already done what you could." He smiles.

Lars turns to see the metal head on the table. Only the metallic structure resisted the blast – the skin and the hair were completely burned.

"You shouldn't even be here. You should be in a hospital, taking care of yourself, while I take care of Alisa. Don't worry too much." Bosconovitch says reassuringly.

Lars smiles faintly, but it quickly vanishes. He was at a hospital for the last few days, allowing himself to have the extra care, ensuring quality of recovery over speed, to make sure he can go back to activity on full force. "And you shouldn't stay here, Doctor. It isn't safe."

"I know, I know." He answers, already turning to deal with the papers, pushing some aside, putting others inside drawers, throwing others in a nearby trashcan. "But I can deal with that. I may be an old man, but I still have friends." He says, and giggles.

 _Only Bosconovitch could be laughing while the world is shattered around him_ , Lars thinks. _That's actually a trait I wish I had, though_. "I must be going. I also shouldn't stay around these parts." Lars says. "Are you sure you can handle yourself?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Doctor B answers dismissively, walking to Lars' direction. He taps the Swedish man's shoulder. "I guess it's goodbye for now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Lars mumbles the answer, staring at the metallic head, while his own head is far away in thoughts. "Goodbye, Doctor." He says, snapping out of it, touching Bosconovitch's shoulder in a friendly manner before turning on his heels, aiming the door, taking quite slow steps because of his medical condition.

"Lars." The doctor calls when the younger one opens the door. The soldier turns to face him, but still holds the door open. "I haven't forgotten of our deal."

A little smile comes to Lars' face. He nods, and then exits the room. Outside, another doctor is waiting for him – this one, however, is an actual doctor, not a scientist.

"Let's go, Anthony."

"Yes, sir."

The grey-haired man of green eyes and face full of freckles and wrinkles puts Lars' arm on his shoulders, assisting him through the stairs, then into the car. Anthony then goes to the driver's seat and turns on the engine.

Lars had to give Alisa's head back to Bosconovitch before leaving the country. He had to do it himself, but because of his medical state, he brought Anthony along – the only doctor besides Doctor B who he trusts enough. The thing is that Anthony is not a regular employee of the Agency – he periodically takes some temporary casual jobs there, and that's it. He is not an actual agent, so he owes nobody any kinds of explanations. Besides, he self-exhales honesty – he couldn't hurt a mosquito if he wanted. His work for Jin had been just another of those casual jobs, but through the Zaibatsu. And now, for Lars, he's doing the same, as almost a personal assistant of sorts.

"Anthony." Lars breaks the silence. "May I ask you something?"

"Sure." He answers in his usual good mood.

"Why do you regularly takes jobs with the Agency? I mean, isn't it dangerous?"

"Not really, actually." He says. "I don't usually get involved like this. When it comes the time to get involved, I'm dismissed." He makes a brief pause. "I do it for the same reason anybody else would accept these jobs for: they pay well. Sounds cold, I know, but money makes the world go round. You're younger than me, but you went through much worse, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, unfortunately, I do know what you mean." Lars answers. _Power is actually what makes the world go round_ , he thinks, _but money is a close second_.

"I have no family. I have only me. So I live for what I have."

With all that said, silence establishes itself in between them again, as Anthony takes them to a hidden airbase arranged by a few of Lars' old Tekken Force resistance allies.

* * *

 _[Day 19]_

 _Thursday, 12:43 UTC (21:43 in local time)  
Somewhere unknown_

For some odd reason, Katarina always has the impression that street lights are always brighter and more colorful in Asia than in the West. As the sound of her knee-length black boots marks the empty alleys with her presence and her navy blue coat gently flies with the wind, she makes her way to meet a potential client.

The neighborhood she's in is already quite empty during these late hours, but the bar where the encounter has been settled is even quieter. She makes her way inside, and unbuttons her coat, revealing a white strapless dress that goes until half her thighs.

Looking around, she sees there's only a single employee behind a dark orange counter, and only two tables are occupied. Following the instructions she received, she goes upstairs, where finding her client is even easier, as he is the only person present in the second floor.

She simply goes to his direction and takes a seat in front of him. He looks up from his drink and stares at her for a good while. She does the same, analyzing him. As the man said himself through the phone, he would be wearing a formal brown hat. It's hard to determine how he looks like, as it covers not only all of his hair but also a great part of his facial features. He's very muscular, and is wearing full-black leather clothes that simply don't match with the hat at all. He's probably younger than her, which is unusual in the type of business she works in.

"So, you are Alves?" He asks, in a weirdly accented English. By the sounds of it, Katarina presumes that he's Asian, most likely from South Korea itself.

The man, in the other hand, doesn't really pay attention to her face features – which would be an useless effort, as sunglasses cover her face just as his hat cover his own. He wasn't really expecting to see such ginormous breasts in the chest of a mercenary, though he avoids looking at them as he is here for serious business.

"And you must be the Blood Talon." She says, and unlike him, she doesn't stop her eyes from staring at the other's most prominent feature – in the man's case, it is his hair. Though she has already analyzed him with a criminal's clinical eye, now the 'human' part of her is simply looking at it out of pure curiosity, still trying to deduce his nationality.

There's a brief moment of silence before the man speaks up again. "I want you to track someone down." He says. "Her name is Kunimitsu. She's a Japanese criminal."

"Do you have a picture of her?" She asks, and her eyes meet his.

"No. She's a ninja or some bullshit like that." He says with disdain, and sips from his bottle.

"So how do you suggest I track her?" Katarina says half-annoyed. She has done this kind of job before with much less information and succeeded, but she's just not taking the guy seriously. He doesn't look much older than her, and seems too aloof.

"I don't care. That's what I'll be paying you to do." He makes a brief pause. _Good enough of a point_ , Katarina thinks humorously. His boldness peaks her interest. "But she won't be hard to miss. She has orange hair, usually tied up in two ponytails, and wears a fox mask." From what he heard of his master's conversation with the detective, the woman hasn't changed her style in more than _20 fucking years_ , so it wouldn't be now that she'd change it. "Or that's what I heard, at least." He adds.

Katarina tilts her right eyebrow, but says nothing. The Blood Talon continues. "All I need you to do is find a way for me to meet her."

The brunette mercenary frowns. "Meet her?"

"Yes. I wanna handle her myself, if you know what I mean." There's a little smirk on his lips.

Katarina ponders about the job. _It's not my usual kind of thing, that's for sure – I usually work as 'freelancer' for businessmen. And there's also the fact that the woman is a ninja, which honestly sounds like a children's story. I might as well get the payment and vanish._ "How much are you gonna pay me for it?"

"This." The Blood Talon puts a good amount of dollar notes tied together with a yellow rubber band over the table. "Half of it now, half of it after it's done."

Katarina raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. She stares at the money – from her experience, she knows the stack contains a generous amount of cash. _Well, in times of war, you can't really refuse offers_ , she thinks. That's because when a war is taking place, there's no need to keep dirty business secret, as chaos and destruction is everywhere already.

"Any other usual information about her?" Katarina asks.

"She's a fighter." He answers. "A Tekken veteran, to be more precise."

Katarina raises her right eyebrow again, this time higher. It is common sense that the Tekken tournaments are pretty much unregulated, though hidden under the sheets of glamour, and the few people courageous enough to take part in it only do so because they are _literally_ the strongest fighters in the world.

 _No wonder why he's willing to pay me so much. And now the fact that he said she's a ninja makes a little more sense… I still don't believe in that bullshit, but since Tekken tournaments are always full of freaks, I guess it's believable enough. I might actually try to find her._ "Alright." She decides. "I'll do it."

The Blood Talon smirks. "Great." He grabs the money and divides it by half – the first half is put on the table, and the other goes back to his jacket pocket. "Keep me aware of your progress through the number I used to call you. I'm sure you still have it." The man finishes his bottle of _whatever-he-had-been-drinking_ and leaves it on the black surface in between them. "Good doing business with you." With that said, he gets up and goes downstairs.

The Blood Talon puts a couple notes on the main bar counter to pay for his drink and exits the establishment. While walking through the empty streets, he reflects about he has just done.

 _Well, there goes my savings. Bye-bye, new motorcycle. Hello, revenge._ He smirks faintly to himself. _I guess I should start going to the underground fighting scene again. Master won't like it, but I've spent my money for him. I know I'm doing the right thing._ He turns after a corner. _Besides, people probably have already forgotten of The Blood Talon, which means easy money._

* * *

 _[Day 19]_

 _Thursday, 06:23 UTC (15:23 in local time)  
Chiba, Japan_

"I'm having so much fun! Thank you for bringing me here!" A candid exclamation came from a girl endued of an incredibly long pair of blonde ponytails. Her hair and the rabbit ears of her headband move casually as she walks with little excited jumps through the amusement park. The black color of her lace dress contrasts directly with the enthusiasm sparkling on her green eyes and with the bright lights of the surroundings, though the delicacy of its round fluffy skirt works to soften the contradistinction.

"Oh, stop thanking me! It's not like I'm not having fun too!" A girl of shoulder-length auburn brown hair answers. Her garment is a dress of similar fashion, but made of a dull tone of blue denim fabric, and has three-quarter sleeves instead of being sleeveless. Coincidentally, both girls are wearing white sandals, not far different from one another.

"Hey, look over there, Miharu!" The blonde girl calls her friend. "Why don't we have some ice cream?"

"Have you been reading my mind, Lucky?" Miharu giggles. "I was about to say that!"

"Great minds think alike!" Lucky winks playfully as they walk towards the ice cream cart.

As they wait in the line, Miharu starts talking again. "You know, I used to always come here with my best friend when we were juniors." A nostalgic smile graces her features. "This place brings me many good memories."

"Why don't you come here anymore?" Lucky asks innocently.

"Oh, it's just that Xiao was always so busy after that, because of some personal matters of hers." A slightly saddened expression overcomes what had been a joyful one.

"I'm sorry." Lucky says sincerely, apologizing both for her question and for the unfortunate progression of events in between Miharu and her friend.

"Relax, it's fine." Miharu says with a faint sweet smile. _Oh, Xiao… you'd love to be here._

Little do the girls know that the boy in front of them on the line has heard the mention of 'Xiao'. Frowning slightly at the familiar nickname and rather known voice, he turns to see who was the person who said it. He instantly recognizes the short brunette girl. "Miharu!"

A bit startled, Miharu turns to the owner of the voice and is overjoyed by the sight – she knows who the tall and slightly muscled boy is. "I can't _beliiiieve_ it!" She hugs him tightly, and he hugs her back.

"It's been such a long time!" He says as they release each other.

"I know, right?" Miharu says. "Where have you been? What have you been up to?"

"I got enrolled in Kyoto University, to study Pharmaceutical Sciences." He answers.

"Oh, that sounds nice! I'm so happy for you!" She says. "Oh, how rude of me! This is Lucky Chloe, a friend I made not long ago who has just moved to my city, Chiba!" She turns to the girl. "Lucky, this is Shin Kamiya, a good ol' friend from school!"

"Nice to meet you." He says, moving his head a bit to move away the long chocolate-colored hair strands of his fringe away from his eyes, and extending his arm. "I'm Shin Kamiya." He smiles sympathetically.

"Nice to meet you too." She says, smiling timidly, and shakes his hand. "You can call me Lucky only. I prefer it."

"And you can call me just Shin." He says casually. "Heh, I guess it's my turn. Let me buy you girls some ice cream, it's on me."

After ordering their ice creams, the young ones sit on a wooden bench on a less crowded part of the open-air amusement park. "So you're living in Kyoto now, huh?" Miharu continues their conversation from where it had stopped. "What brings you to these parts?" She licks her vanilla ice cream.

Lucky silently tastes her strawberry ice cream as she pays attention to the conversation. Eyeing Shin briefly, she notices his white T-shirt has "The Beatles" written on it – she has no idea of what it means. He's also wearing casual grey jeans and red sneakers.

"I'm visiting some relatives in Tokyo." Shin answers Miharu. "But today I wanted to treat myself and have some fun, that's why I'm here." He licks his mango ice cream. "And you? What have you been up to?"

"Well, I finished high school, and then took college exams." She sighs slightly. "But I flunked them all, so I'm getting prepared for next year's tests."

"Don't be discouraged, those tests are hard. I had quite a hard time with them too, I consider myself lucky for getting approved in the first try." Shin says reassuringly. "Don't worry too much. When due time comes, you'll be with your diploma in hands already."

"I hope whoever God's up there" Miharu says, pointing towards the sky, "hears what you're saying now and makes it come true." They laugh. "Wow, it must have been ages since the last time we talked. We used to be so close."

"Yeah, that's true. The change in my life when college responsibilities came into my door was so sudden that I didn't even manage to at least give you a number to call me or something. I'm so sorry about it."

"Nah, it's okay, really." Miharu says dismissively. "I've missed you."

Shin smiles. "I've missed you too. And your clumsy accidents, I might add." He giggles as Miharu makes a fake angry expression.

"Stop mocking me! I'm not clumsy, I'm just super flexible!" They laugh. "My falls are beautiful, you have to admit it."

"I never denied it." He says playfully. "But how is it doing with everybody? I haven't heard from anybody from Mishima Polytechnic."

"Most people from your class went to study abroad." She says. "You remember how most of them were foreigners."

"Yeah, yeah." Shin says. "And Katsuhiro? How is he doing?"

"Wow, I remember how close you guys used to be." Miharu says. "I think he went to Osaka, I can't remember now." She looks up in thought.

"What about Jin? I mean, those things about him ruling the Mishima Zaibatsu and all… I never thought he'd ever become its CEO, imagine doing what he's done…" Shin says in a half-sad (for the cruelties) and half-disappointed (about Jin) voice tone, also in a lower volume, aiming to be discreet.

Miharu doesn't answer instantly. She licks her ice cream as an unhappy expression comes to her face. "Yeah…" It escapes her mouth as she thinks about it. "I guess nobody had foreseen it." Her voice volume is equally lower.

After a moment of silence, Shin continues the conversation in the tone it had been before. "And Xiaoyu? You guys were like hand and glove."

Miharu's spirit is lifted up by the mention of her best friend. "We still are, believe me!" She says happily. "We don't hang out as much, but our friendship is intact."

"Nice to hear that." Shin says sincerely, smiling. "Does she still have that panda?"

"Hey!" Miharu exclaims. "Don't call it _that_ panda! Her name is Panda!"

Shin only laughs. Only then Miharu realizes how redundant she sounded, even though she stated facts. She starts giggling as well. "Yeah, she's still with Panda." Miharu answers after they finally stop their laughter.

"What has she been up to?"

Miharu bits her lip remembering sad things. "After the third Tekken, Jin sort of disappeared. She has been trying to reach him out ever since." The brunette girl says in a despondent tone. "She hasn't even tried _any_ college exams since she graduated."

"Wow, that's bad." Shin says.

"It is. I tried to convince her of letting go, but already in the early beginning, she was firm in telling me she wouldn't give up." Miharu says. "After we finished high school, I tried to make her at least take the university application tests, but to no avail."

"Well, try to see it from the good side. At least she's focusing on doing something good. Perhaps it's better to let her be."

"Yeah, I guess so." Miharu agrees. "Just recently, we went to a vacation through Italy, though. It was so fun! We hadn't done that kind of thing for years." She says. "After it, I came here to Chiba to visit my parents, and she went to China to visit her grandfather."

"At least you're still close to each other." Shin says. "I lost contact to everybody."

"But now we've met again!" Miharu says, finding happiness out of nowhere. "You know what? We should register this moment!" She takes a cellphone out of a pocket on her skirt. "Let's take a selfie, the three of us!"

Shin puts his mango ice cream in front of the camera and smiles behind it. Miharu licks the vanilla one on her hand. "Guys, I don't really like pictures, you can take just the two of us." Lucky says timidly.

Both of the Japanese young ones get out of their poses and turn to the blonde girl. "Oh, come on, Lucky! No excuses!" Miharu says.

"R-really, I don't feel comfortable." She insists nervously.

"It's not like the camera is going to eat you alive!" Miharu argues. "If you prefer, I won't share it on social media."

Lucky ponders. That's enough window for Miharu to make her pose again, and Shin follows suit. Seeing no way out of it, Lucky shows her strawberry dessert to the camera and makes a piece sign with her free hand, smiling widely to the smartphone.

"Wow, I like it!" Miharu says as she looks to the result picture.

"Me too." Shin says as he eyes it too, licking his ice cream.

"What do you think of it, Lucky?" Miharu says and puts the phone in front of Lucky's eyes.

Lucky smiles on the corner of her lip. She's actually happy she has taken the photo. _Risky, but worth it. Today will forever be remembered_. "I love it. I wish I could have that photo for me."

"Do you have any social networks? I could send you."

"No, I don't have any." Lucky says. "I'm not into that kind of thing. Besides, I don't even have a cellphone."

"What?!" Miharu exclaims in genuine shock. "How do you survive?" Shin simply laughs on the other side of the bench.

Lucky blushes. "Can't we… _develop_ it somewhere?" She asks, unsure if the word she has used is correct – she hopes it is.

"Sure, we can do that after the ice creams." Miharu says, and licks her dessert.

"Hey, can you send me the picture?" Shin asks. "Besides, we should exchange numbers."

"Yes, of course!"

The friends spend the rest of the evening laughing, making jokes and simply having fun in general, as if there was no tomorrow.

* * *

 _[Day 19]_

 _Thursday, 14:57 UTC (23:57 in local time)  
Tokyo, Japan_

The pitch-black night engulfs the Mishima Estate, and the cold breeze barely lifts the tall tree branches. In between the high leaves, rustic lanterns make their best effort to illuminate the surroundings with their yellowish light, but end up only to make the place more sinister, creating innumerous shadows over the greyish green grass.

This is a part of the Estate that has been simply forgotten; _willingly_ forgotten. It is a place lost in time after a fateful events lead to its status as a grave in between the Mishimas themselves. It is where Heihachi's true love died, where Kazuya's childhood died, where Jin's good side died, where Jinpachi's soul died and left the body vacant for a demon – which also died. The Mishima Dojo is the only thing able to kill a Mishima and make it remain dead – cliffs and volcanoes are just amateurs.

The whistles of the wind make the place even scarier. That has never been a problem, however, as only impassive people have stepped through the simplistic stone path leading to the majestic traditional dojo. The building's structure is made of brickwork, which is hard to percept as most of its design is made of wood of very dark brown color. The decoration inside is little, yet very expensive – there are golden statues in the corners, illuminated by the dim light of oil lanterns.

Inside, a woman dressed fully in white traditional clothes is meditating in front of the dojo's biggest Buddhist statue. Her hair is tied up with a golden phoenix-shaped accessory. The main doors across the room, behind her, are opened with a loud sound. An enormous man enters, and after closing the doors again, he takes silent steps towards the woman, until he's by her right sit. Taking a seat on the ground, just as she is doing, he also starts meditating.

After a considerable amount of time in silence, the woman speaks up. "I see you've reconstructed the Pagoda Temple." The man doesn't say a word. "Thank you, Gouki." She continues.

"There is not the necessity of thanking me." This time he answers. "I was only respecting your gravesite."

She opens her eyes, but keeps her gaze to the front. "I do, however, need to thank you for bringing me back."

"I am just repaying my debt to you, Kazumi."

The garden surrounding The Temple of Hon-Maru had been, for a long time, where Kazumi's remains were buried, after Heihachi killed her in a fight inside the Pagoda building. Afterwards, the Mishima Dojo was used for Kazuya's training as he grew up – and not far away from the building, lies the ravine from which he was thrown off in a rainy evening. It later came to be Jinpachi's prison, and also where the first and so far only Jin vs. Kazuya vs. Heihachi fight occurred.

After Hon-Maru was destructed, it was pretty much abandoned, as during the fifth Tekken Tournament, Heihachi was believed to be dead and didn't even participate in the competition, Kazuya was busy taking hold of G Corporation, Jin was hiding, and Jinpachi was doing his best to coordinate the championship from the headquarters while at the same time trying to control his own body. That was when Gouki reconstructed the Temple, all by himself, completely unnoticed.

Gouki's debt with Kazumi had actually been to kill Heihachi to prevent him from destroying the world with his ambitions and his anger, while also protecting Kazuya from his own Devil. What hadn't been expected, however, was the cliff incident – the young Mishima's vulnerability at that fateful moment was simply too much for holding back the demon, and Kazuya ended up accepting it inside his soul, fooled by its mesmerizing promises of revenge.

Because of that, Gouki had to go into hiding, already aware that he'd need to kill both of the Mishimas – he just didn't count on them killing each other in the First and Second Tekken Tournaments. When only Heihachi remained alive, and it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to strike, a new Mishima appeared onto the scene, which lead to a new cycle of hatred, while also occurring the discovery that Kazuya was still alive and well. Then it came Jinpachi, then it came Lars, and then Azazel.

And it was when Azazel came that the tables turned. Unlike a human being, Azazel never had a physical body of its own – only a physical representation of its spirit. It had been the most ancient incarnation of the Devil still alive, and when it was killed, the evil energy went after the next oldest one – which happened to be Akuma. With that, he revived Kazumi – a risky move, yet worth it, as eliminating the Devil gene had always been _her_ intentions, and there's nothing more fair than her doing so.

 _Besides, it is my entire fault_ , Gouki thinks. _Hadn't I given her my blood, no such thing as a 'Devil gene' would have ever existed…_

"Gouki." Kazumi breaks the silence. "I can sense your feelings of guilt. Please stop blaming yourself. It was not your fault – you did what was right."

"I'm sorry, Kazumi, but that's asking too much out of me." He answers, in a voice volume slightly lower. "Through the years, I've failed miserably in finding ways of not blaming myself." He says. "Trust me, I tried. For you." He adds, as since it happened, she would always ask him to push such negativity away from his thoughts, arguing that she would've done the same in his position.

"You've been trying too hard." She says in a softer tone, which makes the sound delicate, as her womanly voice is already soothing enough by itself. "Simply let go of it."

Muteness falls upon the environment again, as their eyelids close once more for meditation. They fail, however, as their minds can't help but bring memories that had been long forgotten – shadows of the past lurking at their very existence, watching every single one of their steps, waiting for them to crack over the knowledge that it can't be undone.

It can't be undone.

* * *

 _[Day 20]_

 _Friday, 11:03 UTC (15:03 in local time)  
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Of America_

 _Staying hidden is easier than what I had expected_ , Julia reflects on her last few days. In only one week, she has already managed to establish herself safely in a country she knows well – it is the best she can get considering everything she's been through recently.

She chose the place where she was going to, based on many points. Firstly, it had to be in a place where she could communicate – therefore, it had to be an English-speaking country, which quite cut her options. Secondly, it should be a place not too remote (such as a Caribbean island, for example), and preferably close to other countries she could flee to if it became necessary. With that, she decided going back to her native US, which was both safe (because of the aforementioned reasons) and risky (because it can be quite predictable).

Then, she had to choose _where_ in the United States she'd be staying in. It needed to be somewhere out of Arizona, for obvious reasons. Also, it had to be a big and crowded city, preferably with a great amount of tourists, so she would find it easier to blend in. With those things in mind, she ended up choosing Las Vegas, where the bright neon lights get the focus of the people and nobody will pay attention on her.

Once she had arrived, she needed to find a job. She has savings, of course, but she can't survive out of them forever. Besides, she doesn't like doing nothing.

While trying to think of a solution to that problem, as she walked through the streets hoping to find a job in a hotel or a bar, she actually managed to get lost in between series of back alleys. At first, she cursed herself on her mind for being so inattentive… but those thoughts quickly turned into satisfaction as she saw a group of people around street fighters.

 _Sometimes, the fact that people strive for violence everywhere is actually quite helpful_ , she thought on that moment. She took from her pocket a pink and white mask, resembling those of Mexican luchadores, and got herself into the crowd. She had bought the mask in case she needed to hide her face at the last minute, but it proved to be much more useful for something else: creating a 'stage persona' for the underground circuit. Out of the lack of creativity, her moniker came from her initials – 'J.C.' – and she had her first fight on that very morning.

It was not hard for her to emerge victorious in literally all of the fights of that day, simply because all her opponents had been brainless gang men or frightened teenagers acting as bad boys. Most were strong, of course – actually, they were all huge in size – but they lacked everything else imaginable when it came to skills. Considering the fact that she's quite used to dealing with Tekken fighters, who are deemed the deadliest on Earth, for her it all was a child's play.

The people responsible for 'organizing' those fights in that place were quick to recommend her other underground circuits throughout town, supposedly with better skilled challengers – she still won over all nonetheless.

She knows it can be dangerous to 'make a name for herself' (in this case, a name for Jaycee) on those circuits full of gang members and criminals, but she's already running away of much greater danger, so she's not really caring about it.

Little does she know that she has gotten the attention of another masked fighter, who's been observing her closely since her arrival in the street fighting circuits.

* * *

 _[Day 20]_

 _Friday, 11:36 UTC (19:36 in local time)  
Chengdu, Seichuan, China_

Xiaoyu is alone in the balcony of her grandfather's place. She stares into the vague black of the sky, as the rain pours on her. It's not actually raining hard, but since she's been for so long standing in there, she's soaking wet. Her hair is down, and she's wearing a beige silk nightgown, with a burgundy sweater covering her arms. She hugs tight onto the piece, as she silently cries over the scenes that cross her mind – both happy and sad memories. Her tears dance with the raindrops on her face, and the sound of her breathing gets lost with the wind.

"Aren't you feeling cold?" A very deep male voice suddenly says.

Xiaoyu jumps, scared, as she didn't hear him approach. "No, I'm fine, thank you." She answers politely, briefly eyeing Feng Wei, who stops by her left side.

Both stare into the night silently for some good minutes, until the silence is broken again by the man. "You surprisingly are very similar to your grandfather. Have you ever realized that?"

She frowns, confused as to why he's starting a conversation with such a topic, but doesn't answer. He continues. "Although you lack his seriousness and simplicity, you have a strong sense of responsibility and a lot of determination to do what you think is right."

"Thank you." She answers, still a bit confused.

"I used to have a lot of that, but eventually I lost it. It's the price I paid for certain decisions." He continues. "Do not make the same mistakes that I have done."

Xiaoyu frowns as he starts to leave the balcony. "Wait." She says, and he stops with his back facing her. "I'm sorry, but what do you mean with 'mistakes'? What decisions?"

"I decided hope was just an illusion." He answers, and leaves silently.

* * *

 **Author notes:** I'M BACK! After _forever_ , here it is: Chapter 10, with +14k words!

Introducing: Kazumi Mishima (Finally, I know), Akuma/Gouki (!), and Shin Kamiya (there's a place for everybody lol)

 **I PREDICTED MASTER RAVEN, GOODBYE BITCHES!** Now that Tekken 7 is out, I'll have to do some reading and see what elements of it can be included in here and what elements of it will have to be adapted/changed. It shall be interesting.

The name of this chapter is _**Explanations**_ not only because the story had reached a point in which I had to clarify things, but also because I feel like I owe one… let's just say I needed this time away very badly. I know a year and half sounds like a bit too much, and probably most of the people who read this forgot about it a long time ago… but I promise I made good use of this time. I hope I'll be able to update more often from now on and eventually finish this story.

Thank you, and (hopefully) see you again soon!


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